


The Ring [L.S.]

by canynlou



Category: Harries, Harry Styles - Fandom, LS - Fandom, Larries - Fandom, Larry - Fandom, Larry Stylinson - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band), louies
Genre: 1d, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Fanfic, Gore, Harry Styles - Freeform, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Liam - Freeform, Liam Payne - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, M/M, Niall Horan - Freeform, Zayn Malik - Freeform, harry - Freeform, larries, larry - Freeform, louis - Freeform, mlm, niall - Freeform, one direction - Freeform, young adult, zayn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29270907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canynlou/pseuds/canynlou
Summary: Louis is a young server in a local sports bar. His life turns upside down when the new bouncer, Harry, comes back from grad school to work at the bar alongside him. In a story of surprises, bar fights, pool games, love and promises, will their friendship flourish into something more in this cutthroat restaurant, or will there be someone else?TW/ Homophobia, Slurs, ViolenceOngoing..
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

“All I wanted was a fucking Bud Light, moron.” 

Louis smiled and walked into the server’s station to ring in table 32’s Bud Light. A Saturday night dinner rush was no joke at the bar, and it didn’t help that the game was on. It seemed like all the bros were home from college and Louis couldn’t catch a break. Nothing is worse than getting double sat, having to recite the dessert specials to three tables and then having Chad from Sigma phi yelling at you over his simple beer choices. He really hated serving tables, but it was good money in between going to school full time. The money and the friends made the bad customers worth it.

At nine o’clock the restaurant would turn into a nightclub and that’s when dinner service began to slow down. All the servers finished up their tables and served drinks around the dancefloor to the sloppy guests and chatty regulars who were just there for a good night. Some nights it seemed like forever to get to this point, especially when all you’ve eaten since you’ve gotten in in the morning were cold french fries from the back. This was the best time of the night, and it’s not just because all of the hot bouncers finally got to work, but because Zayn always made it a point to bring Louis a Red Bull to get through the rest of the night. Zayn and Louis became good friends back when Louis was a host in the restaurant. 

The hosts took the cover charges at the door and spent the night with the bouncers just chatting away as they checked IDs. Zayn was head bouncer and knew Louis was competent enough to take $5 from everyone who came in, so he chose him to take cover often. It wasn’t until he was 18 that he could start serving tables, so he had an entire year to become close to the bouncers, and missed hanging out with them. Zayn always made up for it by being sure to bring sugary drinks and food whenever Louis was working because he knew that he hadn’t eaten.

Serving tables was every man for themselves. Everyone was fighting over who got what table, which server would be cut first, and not to mention, if someone was sleeping with someone else’s boyfriend it was absolute hell. For the most part he kept to himself, Niall was a friend of Louis’ who he had trained on the host stand back in the day, and it’s really nice that management finally let Niall serve with him. It seemed like a long few months being alone on the floor. 

In the server’s station Niall was eating a granola bar as fast as he could while Louis rang in Chad’s Bud Light, “I can’t believe you got that table full of bros again! This is the second Saturday in a row they’ve come in,” he mentioned to Louis with a mouth full of granola, “maybe they requested to sit in your section.” Louis just groaned and remembered the $400 bill from last week and the $20 tip that came with it. It wasn’t shocking to see a table like this not tip well, but that didn’t make it suck any less. Meanwhile, Niall had a table full of their older coworkers who thought he was the cutest little thing in the world, so he would no doubt make a decent amount tonight on that one table alone. “I swear sometimes I just can’t catch a break,” Louis stops talking when Niall is smiling wide and looking behind him. 

When Louis turns around to see what in the world he could be looking at, there is Zayn, hair slicked back with a 20 oz Red Bull in his hand waiting for Louis to notice him. “Bad night, huh?” He asks while taking off his jacket and hanging it up in the coat closet. “You would never guess who I have sitting at my table,” they both look over together when Zayn abruptly says, “yeah he’ll be out of here by 9:30 guaranteed” they both just smile and Zayn walks away. It was nice to know that someone had Louis’ back at all times - especially in this cutthroat bar.

Louis walked over to the service bar only to be greeted by Alyssa behind the bar talking about how gorgeous Zayn looked tonight as she’s waiting for the spout to stop on his Bud Light. It was insane how every girl here hung on every word the bouncers spoke - and all the guys knew it. Not sure if it was their confidence, or if it was their beautiful bone structure, Louis couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, yeah we know Alyssa, you can’t wait to fuck him, we know,” Louis remarked back to her smirking, she fired back simply, “yeah neither can you” and his face dropped. Louis had never thought of Zayn like that, because he’s obviously straight, he was a few years older and he was his best friend in the restaurant. There was no doubt that he was good looking, but definitely not the guy for him. Louis was out to everyone and didn’t really care about what people thought of him, especially not at his job. While he hated serving tables, he adored his coworkers so much and wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. Long doubles really bring you together. 

Fixing his top button on his shirt, he walked over to the table again. “Here’s your beer, can I get you guys started on any entrees tonight? The steak tips tonight are to die for I’ve heard! Oh, and our parmesan crusted chicken,” he started but was cut off this time by a different guy, “we’ll just have buffalo wings, nachos, pretzels, buffalo dip and some bread. Don’t forget to keep the beers coming.” They were already on their 6th beer of the night, and most were drinking IPAs which were higher in alcohol content so he was definitely keeping an eye on them. As he nodded and turned around to leave he heard the guy that he’s named Chad shout “don’t forget the blue cheese!” and Louis just lifted his hand in acknowledgement but never turned around. Most nights weren’t like this, but when you’ve been serving for long enough at a sports bar, you know the tables that are going to be a problem later in the night. It would be easier to just bring them their food, cash them out and transfer them to the bar if they were going to keep drinking. Louis was adamant on not keeping campers in his section when he could be making money with some turnover, especially if it was busy like it was tonight. It was an unwritten rule to let the bouncers know of anyone who may become a problem because they will watch them more closely as the night progresses. So, naturally Louis found Zayn and told him just how much they’ve had to drink and what they ordered. Zayn was on his tiptoes waiting for them to mess up and to be able to throw them out. 

“Hey Lou, I was wondering if you’d do some cover some nights, whenever you aren’t serving of course. The new hostesses only seem to care about looking at the guys, I can’t stand them,” Zayn whispered after Louis told him about the table, “I have a new guy coming in to train with us tomorrow and can’t watch the girls at the doors and show him around. I think you’ll really like him. I’ve known him a long time and he’s here from school for a few months to help bounce.” The thought of a new bouncer excited Louis, “yeah Zayn of course, did you talk to Dave about it?” Dave was the general manager, and he didn’t like things happening that he didn’t know about, but Zayn never really cared. “Yeah, Dave’s fine,” Zayn said through a smile, which clearly meant that he never asked him, but Louis trusted him, so it was a date. Tomorrow Louis would take cover charges while the new guy checked IDs at the door. He was excited to say the absolute least. Maybe he would finally have a new friend, and if Zayn says he’ll like him, that’s enough for Louis.

Just as the conversation was ending, Louis looked up into the dining room to see Niall at the table full of bros with a tray slung onto his shoulder dropping their food off. The conversation was out of ear shot but it was clear that something was wrong by the way Niall swayed back and forth and put his hands in his pockets. The Bud Light guy they’ve coined as ‘Chad’ started to shout at Niall, and that’s when Louis remembered - the blue cheese! He had totally forgotten, but when he turned to the kitchen to go grab it, Zayn grabbed him by the shoulder, “9:24” he said calmly with a smirk because he’s always right. Before Louis knew what was happening Zayn climbed up the stairs to the dining room going two steps at a time with his second in charge Liam in tow as back up and asked the table to quickly pay their bill and leave while he provided to-go boxes so they could take their food home, after all they were paying for it. 

Zayn never went straight to his tough guy persona when asking someone to leave, his motto was always to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them the opportunity to leave on their own. He felt it was easier this way and less paperwork to fill out at the end of the night - which he usually made Liam do anyway.

“Lou, grab the bill, they’re going to head out,” Liam tells Louis, but it didn’t seem that that was the case. When ‘Chad’ got a good look at Louis coming back with the bill, he called out names that Louis hadn’t heard in over a year since he left high school, “we’re not going anywhere until that fucking fag brings us our last round,” he spat in Louis’ direction. This wasn’t something that bothered Louis, but it bothered everyone else who considered him like a little brother. Liam and Zayn grabbed the guys by their collars, while the other bouncers followed their lead, they led them out the front door while they continued to throw slurs throughout the building. When Chad turned around once again to look for Louis, Zayn grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him through the front doors. There was no doubt in Louis’ mind that the police were going to get called tonight.

Niall stood by Louis with his head on his shoulder, it wasn’t everyday that this happened anymore, and it was even worse that it happened in front of all of their other tables. Needless to say, the other tables tipped Louis better than they thought they were going to when they first sat down. Alyssa from behind the bar made Louis a milkshake to get through the rest of his shift and they all came together to comfort him. He wasn’t one to enjoy the attention, but it felt nice to know that they all wanted him to know that they loved him back. 

Louis looked out of the glass doors of the main entrance to see the police cars coming to make his table leave the bar. He had missed a lot of what happened once they got outside, so he looked to see Zayn and make sure that he was okay. The last thing that he wanted was anyone to get hurt protecting him over some silly comment. Liam was the first to come back in, and he went straight to the closet with extra shirts and aprons and Louis’ mind went to the absolute worst place it could go - was Zayn hurt? Did he ruin his shirt? 

He continued to look out the doors into the dark and saw a tall man that he didn’t recognize with long fringe escaping his beanie standing next to Zayn. He didn’t hold the shape of the other guys, he was much taller and looked less masculine. His legs were long and his jacket was too heavy for May, but it lay right before his bum and made it pop out from his back in a way that Louis was intrigued by. It wasn’t until Liam went back outside to the group of bouncers with a new shirt in his hand and handed it to the lanky guy that Louis realized who he was - it was the guy that he would be working with tomorrow. He stopped staring when Liam came sprinting back into the bar, “you okay, Lou? Hope you aren’t too upset, they won’t be coming back and I’ll give you the money they were supposed to tip - I know it must suck.” Niall emerged from behind the bar with a tray full of cocktails for his table, he agreed that he would help make up the money for the table as well. Louis quickly dismissed both of them and definitely did not want their money, they had done enough for him as it was today. Zayn lingered outside for a bit longer with the tall man and came in alone after the police were gone. For the rest of the night Louis couldn’t stop thinking about the new bouncer, from his demeanor he didn’t seem like the type of guy who would fit in with the rest of the crew. He was excited anyway to finally be able to hangout with the guys at night again.

At close when all of the servers, bartenders and bouncers were sitting around the bar counting their money for their cashout and cleaning up, Louis thanked everyone again. Zayn offered to walk Louis to his car just to be sure that no one was waiting out there for him but Louis really didn’t think it was necessary. Dave caught Louis on his way out and made sure to let him know that those guys wouldn’t be welcome in his establishment anymore, and his safety was more important than some sales.

When he finally got to his car around 1am, there was an envelope stuck in between the wiper blades of his car. The writing on the front was in pink pen in thin handwriting reading, “sorry for the shit table, H”.

He had no idea who H was, or why they left him $100 in an envelope anonymously. He assumed it was another one of his tables that watched everything unfold, but he was too tired to question it at this point. His 9 o’clock morning shift was right around the corner, and he couldn’t be late again.


	2. A keeper

CHAPTER 2

It wasn’t until about five o’clock that Louis started to feel the pain in his heels from his double. His callused feet rubbed against the non-slip shoes he laced up at 8:30 this morning and he was in serious pain. The hostesses knew that he was taking cover tonight, so they knew to stop seating him at 7:30 so he had the chance to finish serving before having to stand in the doorway and collect money. He couldn’t wait to hang out with the guys again, listen to their stories and laugh with them like the old days. Niall was disappointed that he wouldn’t be cocktailing with him tonight, but he knew he could always visit Louis in the doorway during his downtime if he wanted.

The restaurant was of a decent size. The massive bar in the middle surrounded by the dining area, the lounge, and the dance floor area packed a lot of guests into the doors. The outside seating and banquet areas were just as big by themselves. There were two banquets tonight, both with over 50 people in them, and that is why there were so many bouncers scheduled on a Sunday night. In the middle of college town, the bar got rowdy every now and then. The servers loved when it was busy, but it was hard work. 

“Lou, how come Zayn always picks you to take cover? It’s not even your job anymore,” one of the hostesses said in a tone that indicated that she was not happy about this at all, “it’s not fair that he always asks you.” 

Louis just shrugged his shoulders in annoyance at this question. The hostesses didn’t understand that at 5:00 in the middle of a dinner rush wasn’t the best time to have these conversations, nor did he really care to entertain the conversations at all. His feet hurt, he burnt his hand on a plate of fries that sat under the heat lamp for too long, and he just wanted this part of his night to be over.

\----

At 8:46 his last table paid their bill and left. It wasn’t the best night in terms of money, but every night is a gamble when you’re a server. 

Louis slipped into the men’s room in the back by the banquet halls and quickly changed his clothes into something more presentable for the front door. At most bars - pretty girls in clothes one size too tight and 4 inches too low worked the doors with the bouncers, so Louis liked to be able to catch an eye every now and then while he was out there too. 

He left on his black skinny jeans that he wore while serving, and chucked a red t-shirt over his head knowing that there was a possibility that he would be cold tonight when the door would open. It didn’t seem to matter to him, he wanted to look his best tonight. After lacing up his red converse that he let his little sister paint on (she wanted to be an artist and he wanted her to know that he believed in her), he stepped out of the stall and looked at his own pale face in the mirror. He messed with his gelled hair a bit and sprayed himself with a cologne that Zayn and Liam bought him for his 19th birthday. Louis buried his head into his phone and texted Niall from the bathroom even though he was on the other side of the bar. It was something that they did that confused everyone, but it was their thing.

“Pissed I won’t be out there with you tonight, mate. Zayn here yet?” 

He waited a few minutes only to be startled by the vibration in his back pocket - “Lou, it’s 9:13, he’s waiting for you. He knows you’re in the bathroom - see you out there mate” In typical Louis fashion, his face turned red thinking about all the things Zayn could be picturing as to why he was in the bathroom for so long. As soon as Louis reached to pull the door handle back he was being pushed back into the sinks by an opening door. “Oops,” the taller man with long brown curls said slowly. Louis recognized him from the previous night and began to flush red all over again. He wore the shirt that Liam gave him and black chelsea boots. The shirt was tight around his biceps and with one quick stretch his belly would be exposed underneath his navel. Louis wondered about what that might look like when he realized he was staring for a few too many seconds.

“Hi,” was all he was able to come out with, and the other man laughed a low laugh that Louis was infatuated by. They walked by each other through the doorway and Louis looked back to be sure the door was shut completely before he started on a nervous jog to the bar where he hoped Zayn would still be waiting for him.

In his black jeans and basic bar quarter zip Zayn stood next to the host stand with three Red Bulls in his hands and smiled up at the flustered Louis coming his way. Interested, Louis leaned over and grabbed one of the soft drinks from him. “Polo Black, nice.” Zayn said right before Louis cracked open the can. Smiling shyly, he nodded. “I figured we’ll start cover at 9:20 once Harry gets out of the bathroom, he had to go so bad he ran right by me before I could give him his,” as he held one of the Red Bulls a little higher to show Louis that he meant the drink. “It’s only his first time here, I hope he found it before he wet himself or worse, someone else.” 

Louis gave him a light laugh thinking about being almost trampled by the tall man, who he now knows as Harry, in the bathroom. It all made sense now. 

Coming through his revelation, he began to set up the register and ID machine in the doorway for he and Harry when Zayn came through the doors. “Hold up Lou, Harry is here. Please show him how to set up out here while I grab him a quarter zip - speaking of, Lou where is your jacket? You know it gets cold out here.” Louis turned toward Zayn and gave him the typical teeth-clenched ‘please stop’ look before saying “I should be fine, but yeah, no worries I’ll show him.”

“I did bring my jacket if you need one later in the night,” Harry said without missing a beat. Zayn and Louis both smiled before Zayn left them alone in the doorway.

This was the first time Louis had been nervous about a new hire in a really long time. This bar was his turf, so the newcomers were the ones who should’ve been nervous. He grabbed the plug to the ID machine and plugged it in, “It’s real simple really, just plug it in and it should pull up the application itself. The drawer starts at $300 but I’ll be handling the money. All you have to do is make sure the ID is real, and if you’re not super sure, that’s what the machine is for,” he said as he tapped the black case that held the computer that crushed so many young teens dreams of getting into this bar. 

“Alright, works for me. Louis right? With the gold mustang? Sick car by the way,” Louis wondered how Harry knew what kind of car he drove, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the first group of girls to come in for the night.

“Aw, there’s a cover? Even for pretty girls?” Louis scoffed and scrunched his nose at their comments and fired back, “sorry sweetcheeks, doesn’t work that way here. Five dollars each please.” 

Harry smirked and asked for their IDs one by one, when one of the girls in tight ripped jeans and a hot pink crop top said, “oh, a new bouncer. I wonder if he’s as good as the others.” Harry’s jaw quite literally dropped on the floor and Louis reached over to shut it for him placing his thumb underneath his smooth jaw to be sure that it was locked close. Once Louis removed his hand from Harry’s face, Harry entertained the group by responding. “Sorry ladies, I promise I’m not your type - and quite honestly you’re not mine either.”

Louis’ bright blue eyes grew wide at this comment, as did the girls in front of them. “Enjoy your night ladies, tip well.” Harry said as he opened the door for them. Louis was completely confused at this point. No one else in this bar was openly gay, nevermind a bouncer being openly gay. He wasn’t even sure if he was being honest or just trying to get the girls to leave him alone. It seemed like time stopped in the time between the girls going into the bar and Zayn coming back with a quarter zip for Harry.

“How’d he do with his first group, Lou? A keeper?” Louis was still in his own head when he registered Zayn’s question. Harry took the jacket from Zayn and when he lifted his arms to pull it over his head, his shirt ran up his pale belly and exposed his happy trail to Louis quickly before his arms came back down. With a gulp and a head full of confusion, Louis looked to Zayn and nodded.

“Very good, yeah. Definitely a keeper.”


	3. Not Again

CHAPTER 3:

“So, you’ve bounced before?” Louis said through sips of his redbull that Zayn bought for him. Harry’s ability to make jokes with the guests coming in and his comfortability behind an ID machine made it clear. He was a quiet guy but looked rugged enough to have some kind of understanding on how to break up a bar fight.

Harry smirked and looked down, “obvious, is it? Back in the day I bounced at a couple of bars to put myself through school before I became a certified mechanic. I started when I was just 18.” 18 was only five years ago, but Harry was the type to reminisce on the good days even though they weren’t that long ago. “We never had people taking cover for us though, it’s nice to have someone to talk to. You serve tables, right? I guess I’ll have to meet some of the girls who stared at me like I was an exotic animal when I first came in,” Louis couldn’t help but laugh at that. He knew the look he was referring to, it’s the same one that Alyssa gives Zayn from behind the bar. 

The rest of the night went well. Liam and Zayn checked in periodically to be sure that Harry was okay, but they had faith in Louis to keep him in line. Every time they came through the doors they were too hung up in conversation to even notice. 

Harry told Louis all about his time in undergrad and his time in the midwest. “I grew up in a few cities away from here, that’s how I know Zayn,” Harry smiles deep in his thoughts, “but the undergrad heavy equipment programs in the Midwest are so much better than out here. I moved there for college when I was 17 and I’ve been on my own ever since.”

He was interesting, but so down to earth at the same time. Louis felt like a smitten school boy when he was around. “You’re Mustang is one of the cooler cars I’ve seen out here in awhile, you don’t drive it in the snow, do you?” Louis looked down and didn’t seem to understand the question, his Mustang was his only car. He didn’t respond and Harry continued to talk as he acknowledged that no answer was actually an answer after all. “You really shouldn’t, I’m surprised Zayn hasn’t been all over that. The salt eats away at the undercarriage of your car, it causes rust.” Zayn has told him that - many times actually. But a server’s salary can’t afford another car and school loan payments. Louis laughs and tells him that he’ll remember that next time.

Around midnight, both banquets made their way out, and the staff began to clean. Zayn, Liam and Harry called cabs for the guests too intoxicated to drive, and Louis held the door open as they stumbled out. He shivers as the cool Northeast air hits his milky skin. Zayn gave him a look but he ignored it and continued to wish everyone a good night. He missed all of the nights where he used to hold this same door open, but knew a host salary wouldn’t be enough for him to live off of. If they offered him more than minimum wage to be a head host - he would take it in a heartbeat.

\---

At the end of the night around the bar top, Louis, Liam, Harry, Zayn, Niall, Alyssa and a couple other servers close up. It had been such a long night that none of them had eaten lunch or dinner. Alyssa had a cold pizza that she ordered hours ago and offered it to everyone but they all politely declined. Liam had two peanut butter sandwiches that he devoured quickly before Niall could get his hands on them and Louis scrunched his nose at the smell and made a gag sound from the back of his throat. Harry’s eyes went wide when he figured out what was happening.

“YOU DON’T LIKE PEANUT BUTTER? Well - are you allergic? Actually, fuck it, YOU DON’T LIKE PEANUT BUTTER?” He stood up on the bar stool to be sure everyone knew that Louis didn’t like peanut butter. He told the other servers across the bar, yelled it to Zayn and even walked into the manager’s office and told Dave to which he replied, “what kind of human doesn’t like peanut butter?” and Harry shouted “THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING.”

Louis laughed for the rest of the night. It became clear quickly just how extroverted Harry is. In just one night he made friends with everyone. They all fell in love with his wit, humor and bright smile. 

“H, if you don’t sit down and help us clean the bar top we’re never going to get out of here,” Zayn yelled over to him. He came running back over to the group, grabbed a rag and started wiping wet circles of sanitizer around the granite.

It was nearly one thirty in the morning when the group was getting ready to walk out the door. Niall was telling Louis all about the banquet he cocktailed and how much money he missed out on. He didn’t seem to understand that this night with the bouncers meant more to him than the money. Niall never cared to take cover charges, so he didn’t understand the friendships that were made in the doorways. Even though Liam and Zayn were a few years older than him, they became his best friends very quickly.

They all parted ways towards their cars and said their goodbyes. Goodbyes were always short lived knowing that they’d see each other in the next couple of days. When Louis got into his low car the leather beneath his legs felt cold. With the turn of the key the engine roared into the quiet night. Louis was always the last one to leave, always being sure his engine was warmed completely before taking off. A white 1973 stingray pulled out of one of the spots toward him, Louis was sure it was Harry but confused as to what he may want. He rolled down the window to see what was wrong, but Harry just stared at the Mustang.

“Mind if I check it out? What kind of motor is in this thing? Sounds gnarly. Pop the hood for me, yeah?”

Louis popped the hood and got out of the car. “Leather interior, Lou? This thing is beautiful.” Louis had literally no idea about anything Harry was talking about. He got the car from his grandfather when he passed away and takes it to the car wash once a week. The service place at the dealership loves working on the car, so he pays whatever they require to get work done to it. “Thanks,” Louis said with a small smile starting on his face. He remembers the first time Zayn walked him to his car and he had the same reaction. It was no wonder that they were friends.

Harry shut the hood and got back into his Corvette. They exchanged goodbyes and drove out of the parking lot bumper to bumper before getting on the highway together. The mustang was no stranger to the open road, and it didn’t seem like Harry’s car was either as it sped past Louis like he was standing still. He was driving too fast to make out anything in the dark besides a white sticker that read, “Drive it like you stole it” across the back window.  
\---

The next few weeks went by as normal. Louis served his tables and waved hello to the bouncers walking around the bar and Harry at the door. It was normal for the newest bouncer to work the door, but Louis liked talking to Harry and he wished that he was inside more often. He made conversation in the doorway about cars, the midwest, and Harry’s time in school. He could listen to his slow drawl all night if he had the time to. They already agreed that they’d go shopping for summer clothes for Harry soon because he left a lot of them in his apartment across the country.

On the last Friday night in May, Louis had the bar section where he served the guests at the high top tables. He wasn’t too busy so he hung around the server’s station and talked to Liam. Liam’s girlfriend worked at a restaurant down the street and usually came in after her shifts for a few drinks. It’s hard to keep close with your significant other when the hours at the restaurants are so demanding, so this time for them was nice. 

“Where’s the wife?” Louis asked him when he realized it was reaching 11 o’clock and she was nowhere in sight. Turns out she was closing at her restaurant tonight and before Liam even had a chance to show his emotions about it, Harry called for backup at the front door over the walkie talkies. Liam sprinted quickly there where he met Zayn and Brandon just about to step into the doorway.

Louis walked his way nonchalantly to the front of the bar where Alyssa was on her tiptoes trying to look out the front door. Everyone knew Louis was being nosy too, but he pretended to get drinks from the service bar anyway. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He heard Zayn say to the group of guys in the doorway. It was hard to see them exactly, but Louis knew his voice. “Didn’t we ban you from here not even a month ago?” Louis swallowed loud and Alyssa looked down at him with wide eyes. It was hard to hear what was happening, but Louis had faith in the guys. He turned around to tend to his tables when he heard the unmistakable sound of knuckles to the cheek. Commotion from the front door barreled into the main restaurant where Liam told one of the hostesses to call the cops. He couldn’t find Harry or Zayn in the pile of men, and guilt washed over him again just as it did the first time Chad and his buddies put up a homophobic fight. Someone was going to get hurt tonight, and it was all because he forgot to ring in a side of blue cheese just a few weeks ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this isn't a long chapter - I've been busy with school and wanted to update! It's kind of a filler chapter. Hope you enjoyed anyway - the next chapter will be longer. :)


	4. Dreams

CHAPTER 4:

Dave gave Zayn, Louis and Harry the next night off after the fight which they all were pretty psyched about. It’s not often for Louis or Zayn to get a Saturday night off, and Harry was still pretty shaken up about the night before that he was relieved. When Louis woke up to his phone vibrating, he wiped his mouth and answered it swiftly. 

“Good morning, Niall. Just because you’re up and at work doesn’t mean you have to wake the rest of us up too on our days off.” On the other end of the phone Niall wasn’t too amused. He huffed and let out a sigh before telling Louis that Dave was talking about bringing him in tomorrow morning for a meeting. “Why would he want to meet me on a Sunday morning Niall? Is it because I’m creating problems with guests? I haven’t done anything.” Niall didn’t know how to respond, so he just apologized and hung up the phone. 

Louis rolled over in his bed, head against the pillow and let out an exaggerated deep yell. The sun was peeking through the closed shades waiting to burn Louis’ eyes. He walked over to the window, pulled them up and looked out over his small neighborhood. There was nothing for him to do today since he was originally scheduled to work, but it would be a nice day off. He pulled on a pair of skinny blue jeans and a maroon t-shirt that hung off his chest perfectly and waltzed down the stairs to prepare breakfast for himself.

“Z - what’s up for the day? First Beach day of the summer?” Louis texted quickly trying to find some kind of plans to entertain himself. He thought about asking Alyssa to go too, but he knew all she would do was stare at Zayn’s fit body and it wouldn’t be much fun. 

“Can’t babe, car needs a new power steering pump and a detail. Maui tonight for a drinks and pool since it’ll probably be our only Saturday off for a while? Danielle is working tonight and I gave Liam the night off to visit her.” 

Louis was annoyed but happy for plans later in the night nonetheless. Maui was one of the only places that Louis could drink without getting caught for being underage. Danielle didn’t care and all of the other servers were convinced that he’d been 21 for years now. Zayn and Liam were always fun to be with, so he was excited. “See you at 11 - parents are away. Doesn’t matter what time I’m home.”

Now that he had plans for the night, he had to figure out what to do for the day. May on the east coast was always a hit or miss, and today it was a hit. The sun was out, the weather app said 71 degrees and he was ready to enjoy the outdoors. After drinking his tea and scarfing a bagel down his throat - he started up the Mustang. His car was so loud that the neighbors complained to his parents almost every morning, but he didn’t care at all - his father told him to cut off the mufflers and be sure to drive like the true Tommo he is. That was just another reason why Zayn and his father got along so well - they bonded over their love for cars. 

The leather seats felt warm against his pant leg and the smell of bar food lingered from last night, he didn’t know where he was going - but he knew the first stop was to the car wash. Just as he put the shifter in reverse, his phone began buzzing again. Slamming the car into park he answered the phone, “what Niall? Did he say anything else about me?”

A small chuckle came from the other line and Louis realized it wasn’t Niall that he was yelling at. “Lou? It’s me, Harry. Zayn gave me your number this morning, hope that’s okay.” Louis’ face was cherry tomato red, his mind raced a mile a minute thinking about all the different ways he could apologize without making Harry hate him even more. He had so much to apologize for, the fight last night, the derogatory slurs thrown his way, and now answering the phone like an animal. Hell, animals probably talk to their friends better than this. He left the bar early last night out of sheer embarrassment and had Liam walk him to his car just to be safe. He didn’t want to face Harry or Zayn after everything that happened because he felt so guilty - leaving without any goodbyes to anyone bothered Louis more than he let on. Liam of course told Zayn afterwards that Louis had left, and Zayn called him on his way home to reiterate just how important it was for Louis to not blame himself.

“Harry - sorry. Niall woke me up earlier and it seems like he always calls at the worst times so I just figured-” 

“Oh, is it a bad time? Sorry,” Harry started only to be cut off by Louis again.

“NO! I mean, no not a bad time, just taking the car for a car wash that’s all. Sorry about last night - I have so much to say but I was so overwhelmed last night I wasn’t sure how to say it. And I’m sorry about how I answered the phone just now,” Harry took a sharp inhale through his mouth and laughed a throaty laugh to which Louis lowered his eyebrows in a confused way. He couldn’t understand why Harry wasn’t angry with him, or angry in general - instead he was laughing.

There was a quick spurt of silence after his abrupt laugh and Louis filled it with confusion, “are you laughing at me?” 

“Louis, I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at the fact that you’re apologizing for a group of homophobic guys harrassing you. You’re truly something else.” Louis has always been an overthinker. Diagnosed with anxiety after years of closeting himself, he had begun figuring out when his anxiety got the best of him - usually it was too late. 

“What I was calling for was to see if you wanted to go up to the outlets today instead - since we both got the day off. It’s warm outside and all of my summer clothes are still in Nebraska. We’ll talk about last night and maybe get dinner. We can take the Stingray if you want - I don’t mind driving.” 

Harry was so relaxed it was nice. His low drawl calmed Louis even over the phone. It was nice to finally make more friends - even if they were always older than him. There was nothing in the world more important to Louis than his family and his friends. Without missing a beat, he told Harry to meet him at his house at noon and they’d be off. 

Meeting at noon would give Louis just enough time to wash his car, buy new fresheners to get the chicken tender smell out, and change into something more comfortable for the outlets. Walking an outdoor mall with tight jeans on didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do.

\-----

The loud bangs of the Corvette were unmistakable echoing off the houses in Louis’ neighborhood. He heard Harry pulling up from the top of his street. Throwing on his black vans, he grabbed his wallet and keys and locked the door to his house. The ‘here’ text came after he was already outside on his porch waiting as if he couldn’t tell that he was here from the pictures vibrating on the walls when he pulled around the corner in front of his house.

When he climbed into the car next to Harry, Harry was already laughing. “That loud, huh?” They both laughed the whole way out of the driveway. “Way louder than mine, I wonder what my neighbors are thinking about this.”

Harry wore a silky red button up shirt with yellow flowers on it and black skinny jeans that hugged his body a little too tight. His white vans were pristine and the rings on his hands made his fingers look incredibly long. His long hair brought back into a loose bun, and his tattoos visible against his golden skin. If Louis wasn’t so engulfed into a conversation about Harry’s highschool memories - he may have taken the time to fall in love with his features right then and there.

The elephant in the room didn’t matter until about 25 minutes into their drive when it finally got quiet in the car. The thick air nearly swallowed Louis whole as he watched the highway numbers increase as they drove closer and closer to the outlets. With about a half hour left of their ride, he knew that he had to say something.

“About last night-”

“Louis, you know that we don’t have to talk about it. Please stop apologizing, we’re okay. Zayn and I are okay,”

“Please, Harry. Let me - you weren’t there the first night. They called me the same slurs that night that they called me last night, it doesn’t hurt me. I’m gay and I’ve always known that I was. My parents are okay with it, and so is everyone at the bar. Thank you for standing up for me, but you shouldn’t have had to, and I’m sorry.”

“If you don’t shut up.” Harry said back to Louis as a smirk inched across his face. His mouth went wide and then closed again. When he opened it again, Louis was waiting intensely to hear what he had to say after that.

“Louis, you remind me of me at 19. So content with your sexuality, open with yourself. It’s beautiful, really. But even at 23 I still don’t like hearing those words. The second he called you a faggot my fist flew - I had an instant need to protect you, because no one was there to protect me in bars in Nebraska. No one really trusted the gay dude to work on their cars, so I know what it’s like to be you, Lou. Don’t apologize for others.”

Louis didn’t know what to say. Harry had just confirmed his suspicions and told him that he understood. It was easy for Louis to be openly gay here, but he always knew that it wasn’t easy for everyone. 

“Are you hurt? Did they hit you back? Did they get Zayn, or Liam, or Brandon?” Harry lifted up his shirt to reveal his ribcage where a purple bruise was already forming. “After I landed the first punch, they just kind of attacked. We all got a few good jabs in, and they got some good ones at us too. But we’re all alright.”

Louis’ eyes tinged red and began to burn. He didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty for the pain that he put his friends through. “Please understand that we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t want to - we could’ve let them in. We could’ve revoked their ban - Dave probably would’ve been mad at me - but we could’ve just said that it was okay. We wanted you to know just how important you, and everyone else’s safety is to us.”

Through a chuckle, Louis grabbed Harry’s shoulder, “oh yeah, big bad bouncers to the rescue.” They laughed the rest of the way there. As they pulled into the parking lot, Harry decided everywhere he would go for some clothes, and all Louis cared about was being sure to hit the Oakley factory for a new pair of sunglasses for the summer. 

With every outfit came a fashion show in the dressing rooms because Harry had to be sure Louis approved of the outfit before buying it. He would strut up and down past the opening doors of other patrons just trying to look into the mirror and then ask Louis for a thumbs up or a thumbs down depending on his opinion of the outfit. After they went into the Ralph Lauren outlet, Louis sat on the couches outside the dressing rooms and waited for Harry to come out. His phone buzzed from his back pocket only to spark his anxiety once he read the message.

“Hello, Louis. Are you available to come into the restaurant tomorrow morning around ten for a meeting? Regular attire is okay - should be about ten minutes. Thanks, Dave”

He couldn’t believe that Niall was actually right, he was actually going to get fired. He picked at his lips when Harry came out of the dressing room in blue skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. The white complimented his golden skin so well it was almost enough to distract Louis from his phone sitting open on the seat next to him. He gave Harry a thumbs up and went back to text Dave back, “yes, I’ll be there. No problem.” Harry frowned and went back into the dressing room only to come back minutes later in the same clothes.

“What?” he asked before even letting Louis figure out what was happening.   
“What, What?” Louis answered in a confused demeanor.

“Why are you upset? You didn’t even smile at the outfit. I really like this one.”

“Oh my, H. You’re worse than a girl. Dave texted me, I have a meeting tomorrow at the restaurant. Don’t know why - doesn’t matter. I really do like this outfit, mate.”

Harry’s face fell as he walked back into the dressing room. When he came out, he brought his clothes to the register to check out. It was nearing 4:30 at this point and they were both getting a bit hungry. The bagel from this morning wasn’t enough for Louis to have skipped Lunch. 

As they walked through the double doors onto the sidewalk strip, Harry’s stomach made a grumble noise that could’ve been heard across the parking lot. Louis smirked and tried to ignore it, but then at the same time, they both said “dinner?” and laughed out loud. Trying to find a directory to see where to eat, they walked right by Toby Kieth’s Bar & Grille, and decided on that restaurant.

\-----

“I don’t even like country music, but this food is so good,” Harry started and Louis nodded along mouth full of cheeseburger. 

“Did you get enough clothes to last you the summer, or do you think we should go to more shops? Doesn’t matter to me as long as we leave here by 8:30.” Louis said thinking of Zayn and the endless pool games at Maui tonight. 

Harry raised his eyebrow in surprise, “oh wow, hot date, Lou?” They both giggled, and Louis looked down into his plate. “No, going to Maui with Zayn and Liam to visit Danielle, want to come?”

There was a thick silence before Harry nodded, “Yeah, sounds like fun. It’s already 6:00 - let’s get going early so I can put a new outfit on and we can all meet there, what time?

“I told Zayn 11:00, but I haven’t played in so long, so if you want to meet earlier to play a little before they get there, I’d be down!”

Harry smiled and reached for the check. He left a $20 tip on a $46 dollar bill, and that’s how Louis knew that he worked in the service industry for a while. Knowing to take care of your server regardless of the bill was an important trait when making friends, especially to servers.

They walked to the car in a lethargic state after eating as much as they could at dinner, Louis practically rolled into the antique car and bumped Harry’s shoulder on the way in. 

“Hey H, I have a question,” Louis was feeling extremely confident and relaxed after dinner. Harry lifted his chin in response as to say ‘what’s up?’ 

“How did you know that I drove the Mustang that first night we met?” 

Harry’s eyes went wide and then smiled, “well, Lou. When Zayn told me what happened the first night those guys gave you shit - I told him I would watch you walk to your car, he knew you wouldn’t let him walk you out. I asked him which car was yours,” Louis was cracking up by this point in the story. 

“You fuck! You’re H, you left me the money! Why? You didn’t have to do that!” Harry couldn’t help but smile. When his phone began to ring he became tense. Every muscle in Harry’s body became tight when he looked down at his phone and saw who was calling. 

“I gotta answer this Lou, sorry.” and Louis nodded at him and waved him along.

“Hey what’s up?”

“Yeah, just got done shopping with Louis.”  
“The guy from work, Zayn’s friend. I told you about him already.”

“Alright, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Love you too, bye,” the last sentence quieter than the rest. Louis was quiet, Harry didn’t mention anyone back in Nebraska, but then again he never asked. 

“Sorry Lou, what were we talking about?” Louis just shrugged his shoulders, he wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but he knew silence would be more comfortable right now. 

He took out his phone and decided to shoot a text to Niall, just to get his mind off things. “How’s the bar tonight, hope you’re making bank mate! Out with Harry - going to Maui tonight with the boys to see Danielle. If you get out early meet us there x”

Niall replied quickly which either meant he was absolutely bored out of his mind or he was swamped with tables. Louis hoped it was the latter for Niall’s sake. 

“Lou! We’re so fucking busy man, hope I’ll get out in time but I don’t think so. Me and Lyss are running around like chickens or whatever the saying is. Dave is on service making drinks so the bartenders can actually work the bar. Crazy night man! Have fun with the boys x”

That was the best thing that he could’ve heard. 

“Niall says they’re swamped tonight, good for them! Hope Brandon and the boys are good without the dream team there,” Harry smiled, but there was still some sort of awkwardness in the air. Harry took a deep inhale into his mouth that puffed up his belly and began,

“His name is Michael, we live together in Nebraska. We’ve been together about four and a half years. He’s the reason I stayed out there for grad school - we plan to move here eventually though. He’s not always jealous, but tonight he seemed annoyed that I was out. I’m a traveler, he knew that when we started. Our relationship is based on trust and love. Sorry it seemed tense.”

“H, don’t explain yourself to me. That’s awesome that you’ve been together for so long and it’s nothing but love. I hope I’m not a reason for animosity between you two.”

Harry smiled, “what’s your dream, Louis?” Louis sat up confused, “my dream?” Harry asked again, this time following up with “what do you want to do for the rest of your life?”

Louis paused, he wasn’t totally sure. “I want to be a writer, name in lights, book signings - the whole nine. Why?”  
“I want to build race engines, out here, not in Nebraska. Michael is a teacher, he loves it out there. He wants to have kids, raise a family, buy a house. My family is here. My friends are here.”

There was a mutual understanding that this wasn’t just any conversation. “I don’t want kids, Louis. I don’t want to be the dad that works too much, or the dad that is always travelling back and forth to see their kids. I asked him to marry me on the stipulations that he moves out here - it’s been two years since I graduated undergrad - and he hasn’t made any moves. I don’t think he ever will.”

There wasn’t anything Louis could say, this all felt very heavy. “You don’t have to say anything Lou, I just want you to understand where I’m coming from. I love Michael, with my whole heart, I’m just not sure he’s ready to sacrifice his dreams - would you?”

“Well, it’s clear that you won’t.” Louis made himself small. The words flowed out of his mouth like a waterfall. He wasn’t able to take his words back, but he also wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Harry laughed out loud, “no, you’re right Lou, I won’t. Something about you set him off - but you’re a really good friend, Louis.”

Just as they were pulling into Louis’ driveway, he reached his hand and put it against Harry’s on the shifter. There was a long silence between them, and just as Louis reached for the door handle to get out of the car, Harry gave his hand two squeezes.

“I’ll be back here at 9:30 - be dressed and ready.” Louis nodded and shut the car door. He had learned a lot about Harry today. Unlocking his front door, he turned around to see Harry still in the driveway. He gave a small wave and walked through the door, and that’s when he began to drive away. 

He pulled out his phone in a frantic and texted Harry knowing that he was driving, “you owe me a trip to the Oakley store!”

Then he decided to text Niall again before jumping into the shower,

“I need a fucking drink, Ni. Hope you can make it out with us - have so much to tell you mate x”

“Oi, if you fell in love with him today Lou I swear to god”


	5. Dream Team

CHAPTER 5:

Harry showed up at Louis’ home on Bellevue Hills Drive at 9:26 in his Corvette. Louis’ parents weren’t home and his little sisters were spending the night with their aunt across town so he wasn’t worried about waking anyone up in his home - his neighbors were a different story. Seeing porch lights come on and screen doors open when Harry pulled around the corner made him laugh out loud. There wasn’t anything better than seeing people get angry over something as miniscule as a loud car, there were more important things in life to be mad at.

When they showed up to Maui, it was already packed with college kids from surrounding towns and couples in their late 20s ordering drinks on their days off. Every so often there would be an older couple dressed to the nines enjoying drinks around the bar with the kids, this always made Louis smile. Having someone who is willing to be your date to a bar for the rest of your life is when he’ll know that he found the one.

“I’ll have a captain and coke and whatever he wants,” Harry handed his card to the bartender. “Start me up a tab under Styles, please.” Louis went on to order a Michelob Ultra with a lemon and scolded Harry for buying once they were out of earshot from the bartender. It became clear to him that Harry wasn’t one to let anyone else pay. 

“Louis, save your money. You have school to pay for - if you don’t drink under my tab tonight I will never speak to you again,” he said while a smirk pulled at the sides of his mouth. There was a table in the back that no one was on and Louis made a beeline for it before anyone else could steal it, this is where they would be all night anyway. Harry set his drink on the ledge next to him and grabbed a cue from the rack and handed it to Louis, “you break, I’ll rack.” Louis nodded his head toward the end of the table and walked his way to the front. Once Harry was done racking the balls, he went for it. The break was good, but not the best. No balls went in, and Harry chucked under his breath. 

“What do you want to be? Stripes? You seem like a stripe kind of guy,” Harry bellowed out with a laugh, “that’s fine. I can be solids.” Harry hit the 3 ball directly into the left corner pocket and chalked his stick in between hits. “2 off the four and they both go into the right pocket,” Louis stood gaping at him waiting for what seemed like the impossible shot to go in, and it did. This is when Louis understood that this was definitely not Harry’s first, second, or even third game of pool. 

“You didn’t tell me you played! No fair!” His head hung down and his arms slung across his chest in the middle of a pouty temper tantrum. Harry looked over to Louis like a deer in the headlights and shook his head. “Lou, I’m 23, worked in bars my whole life and went to school in Nebraska - there’s literally nothing else better to do. Of course I play.”

The 5 ball bounced off the corner of the middle pocket just as he finished speaking, Louis rolled his eyes and took his shot. The 10 ball bounced off the 15 and rolled in. “Nice shot guy,” Harry mumbled under his breath. Louis smiled underneath his angry exterior. He wasn’t actually mad that Harry was good at pool, just taken back. He wasn’t sure what he took Harry for, but a pool shark wasn’t it. He was a complex person, but Louis was so intrigued by him that he was ready to learn all that he could. 

He followed the 15 all the way down and potted it into the right far corner. “Well, you’re better than Zayn, Lou. When they get here I’ll take you on my team.” Under the light above the table Harry’s skin glowed golden. His big green eyes with a slight water in them flicked to his almost empty captain and coke and black to Louis before he said anything else. “Once I miss, I’ll get the next round,” there was a chuckle between the two of them. “Wow, someone’s cheeky tonight” Harry walked around the table to be next to Louis. Louis lined up behind the 9 ball and went for his shot. It ricocheted against the 1 ball and to Louis’ surprise the 1 went in instead. 

“Could’ve told you that was going to happen, captain and coke please,” Louis walked away toward the bar and hid his smile until he turned around. Harry called out from behind him, “oh, and Lou, get something other than a beer please. It’s on me,” Louis shook his head and looked down, “don’t cheat Styles, I’ll be right back.”

On his way to the bar, Louis ran into Danielle. She wore her low-cut V-Neck red shirt that said “Maui” on the left corner in white and tight black jeans. The best part about Danielle at work was her book. The top of it stuck out from the pocket of her apron where the colors popped against the red shirt. A green and blue sticker reading “skip the straw, save the oceans” spread across the front of it. Louis always liked when servers made their books unique, originality in the workplace was always really important to him. Danielle was Liam’s age and quite a bit taller than Louis. She pulled him into a tight hug and looked around obviously looking for the others. “I thought you guys weren’t coming in until 11?” she said as she looked up to the clock on the wall. It was only 10:20. “Yeah, I haven’t shot a game in a while so me and Harry came in early to get a few games in before Liam and Zayn got here, we’re playing over at table 4, come say hi in a bit, yeah?” She nodded her head and walked over to one of her tables. Danielle was one of the best servers that Louis has ever seen in action. She was quick, happy and always personable toward her guests. Liam has been trying to get her to work over at the bar with them for a while now, but she loves her job like they love theirs. 

“Captain and coke and a strawberry margarita please,” Louis smiled at the bartender praying that he wouldn’t be carded - not that he ever was but it was always worrisome when he ordered a drink without others around. “Styles, right?” the bartender yelled over the music. Louis nodded his head in agreement and reached over for his drinks before he made his way back to the table. When he got back there, Harry wasn’t anywhere to be found. Louis set the drinks down on the ledge and waited for a few minutes assuming Harry ran to the restroom while he waited for him. He took out his phone to check if Niall messaged him when he saw that he was added to a group chat. Curiously, he unlocked his phone to see that Zayn added him and Liam to a new group. 

“Really, Lou? Needed extra practice before our friendly games? I’m sure you’ve already seen that H runs the table, lol. See you soon, mate x”   
“Seems like he’s afraid Z”

Louis rolled his eyes in response, “I hate you both, see you soon.”

He toggled over to Niall’s contact and texted him again, surely to get an irritated response from Niall. He didn’t care, because Niall was the one that woke him up early this morning for no important reason at all. 

“Ni, you coming or not? Make Chris close for you instead!”  
“Jesus Louis. I’ll be there at 11:30, stop texting me fucker”  
“Drinks on you, babe!”

Louis smiled into his phone when Harry sprinted inside over to his cue. He looked pale, but went right over to his drink. “When’s Zayn and Liam coming again?” he asked quickly in passing. 

“11, but I think they’ll be here sooner than that, you should probably take your turn so I can get back to kicking your ass before they get here.” 

“Yeah, I can make it quick.”

Harry took his cue and continued on with his shot. He ran the rest of the table and Louis sat back sulking into his margarita. The 8 ball sunk in the left side pocket and Harry smiled over at him with all of the confidence in the world, hair covering his face.

“Glad you’re gonna be my partner mate,” was all Louis could say before getting up to rerack the table. 

\-----

Zayn and Liam strolled in around 10:45 and Liam walked straight to Danielle on the other side of the bar. They looked over to Harry and Louis in the back corner of the pool area and waved, Zayn joined them first and Liam later followed. 

“Lys texted me and told me they were swamped tonight - glad we got the night off,” Zayn yelled over as he grabbed a cue off the wall. They all laughed out loud and nodded in agreement. Harry was distant and continuously looking down at his phone and back to his drink. Louis finished his drink and offered to get another round for everyone before starting to play, Zayn decided to tag along knowing Louis couldn’t carry four drinks in his hands.

“How was the day? Buy anything good?” Zayn bounced around him like the Energizer bunny. It was nice that he cared, but Louis was stuck in his own thoughts confused on why Harry went MIA and came back in a different mood. “Yeah, H bought lots of clothes for the summer, then we had dinner. Was nice.” They approached the bar and ordered their drinks, “Styles, yeah” and walked back to the table.

“Drinks on H tonight since it’s his first time back at Maui in a long time I guess, huh!” Zayn shouted across the table. A small smile tugged across Harry’s mouth and stayed there for a while. It was nice for Louis to see him smiling again. His friendship with Zayn was adorable and definitely important in these upcoming months considering he has someone to hang out with out here. 

“Usually I take Lou and Li gets stuck with Niall, but looks like you can have Louis tonight H. I’ll just have to carry me and Liam to get a win here.”  
“Yeah, I’ll take Lou, seems better than you Z.”

They played their first game and Niall arrived shortly after. He was still in his work clothes, grinning from ear to ear. “$470 tonight and got my close picked up! Good night tonight lads. Missed you all, of course.” They all smiled at Niall. It wasn’t unusual to have a good night at their bar, but it was always nice to walk away with that much money. “Head to the bar, Niall and put it under Styles. Drinks on me tonight, mate,” Harry clapped Niall on the back and continued on with their game. 

“I’ve never seen so many pretty boys at one pool table in my life,” a man with big biceps just a little bit taller than Harry said to all of them at once. Louis cowered next to Liam in the back and Zayn stepped forward to dismiss the conversation. Niall slipped in next to Louis with his chocolate martini and watched the conversation happening in front of them. 

“Yeah, sure. If you’re not looking to buy us a round we’re just going to get back to our game here,” Zayn answered back swiftly. The tension was thick and Louis began to feel a knot forming in the bottom of his stomach. It wasn’t like a normal altercation, it felt different for him. Bar fights never felt forced, but this felt like it may go somewhere, until the bigger guy began to speak again. 

“No hate here, man. Was just looking to see if you want to play for money. Me and my boy versus whichever of you want to play. Heard the blonde has $500 burning a hole in his pocket and some of you look like you could use a good loss under your belts.” Niall began to chug his martini at the sound of his appearance out of the guys mouth. Louis looked around only to see Harry smirking in his direction. “No, no, we’re just going to play over here by ourselves, thank-”

“Z! Babe, no worries. Lou and I will play. $500, you said? Sounds like fun,” the words were spilling from Harry’s mouth and Louis’ eyes went wide. He absolutely did not have $250 to spend on a pool match if they lost, and he was afraid of the bigger man already. The guy snickered with his friends and Harry continued on, “if you win, we’ll give you the $500, but if we win, you have to pick up our entire bar tab for the 5 of us.” The guys at the other table bellowed out a laugh that the entire bar heard, and soon enough, most people in the bar were crowding around their table. Louis looked at Harry and Harry nodded back to them. For some reason, he was incredibly calm. Not sure if it was the margaritas talking, or the idea of Harry having so much faith in him, Louis grabbed his pool stick and headed to the table. “I’ll break,” he announced calmly.

\-----

The game went on for about 20 minutes until they got down to just three balls left on the table. Liam was walking back from the bar with Danielle with 5 drinks in their hands and he handed them to everyone. Louis was on his sixth drink of the night and still hitting the balls as straight as he could. Next to Harry on this table he felt on top of the world. The table held two striped balls left and the 8 ball that the larger guy missed just a turn ago. It was Louis’ shot and he’s never felt more anxious. He lined up his stick and the cue ball with the 12 ball and took it in a straight line directly down the table into the left pocket. He swallowed deeply and called for Niall to bring him his margarita - in two big gulps, it was gone. The green striped 14 was staring back at Louis and everyone around him knew that he had to bank this off the wall in order to get it in. He called the shot and began to sweat. 

“14 off the edge and across into the left side pocket there where H is,” He lined up his shot and hit it with a perfect backspin to ensure that the cue ball didn’t follow it in and he would scratch. It slowly rolled into the pocket and Harry exhaled quietly to himself. 

“One more round, i’m anxious standing here,” Zayn said to Niall and they both trotted away to the bar. Harry’s tab had to be at least $700 now between all five of them considering Niall was drinking martinis and Louis’ margaritas were being made with Patron. If Louis made this last shot with the 8 ball, they wouldn’t have to pay a dime. 

Louis’ eyes began to cross as he looked between the cue ball and the 8 ball for what felt like an entire 5 minutes. Harry grabbed Louis’ shoulders and looked him in the eye, “I know you’re drunk - and if you miss this I will not be mad at you. I was paying that tab before we even started here, no pressure. Alright, Lou?”

Louis shook his arms off his shoulders and lined up his shot. His words came out slurred but everyone was almost positive he called the right top pocket and that’s where it looked like it was going anyway, so he just went with it. The other team laughed in Louis’ direction and that only made him more angry. “I may be drunk, but you are buying!” Louis slurred thinking that he was making some kind of point to the guys. Harry giggled under his breath and Liam turned away toward Danielle so he didn’t have to watch the last shot. Niall and Zayn came back just in time for Louis to begin his shot. He flicked his wrist to hit the stick against the cue ball as hard as he could. The cue ball ricocheted off the 8 and the 8 ball flew into the right pocket as fast as it could. The cue ball stayed in the middle of the table careful not to roll into any other pockets. Louis threw his stick down onto the table and ran over to hug Harry. His hug turned into a sloppy hold as he threw himself onto Harry who wasn’t feeling just as buzzed as Louis. Harry stopped drinking after his fourth because he knew he had to drive them home and switched to coffee somewhere in the middle of the night. 

All eight of them walked over to the bar top where most of the bartenders were cashing out. They didn’t realize it was so late. The game took up all of their attention and they didn’t notice that nearly everyone else was gone. “Sorry we took so long, thanks for not kicking us out,” Harry said to the guy serving them all night behind the bar. He told them that all of the employees were watching their game as well. Louis smiled into the crook of Niall’s neck and watched as the other team handed over their credit card to pay their $763 tab. They all shook hands with the other two guys and walked out of the bar together. It was nice to drink for free every once and a while they all agreed. Niall, Zayn and Liam parted ways and all yelled a “thanks, H” across the parking lot. “I fucking did it, why are they thanking you?” Louis said from the passenger seat of Harry’s Corvette. Harry squeezed his hand twice in reassurance and looked him in the eyes. “Yes you did, you’re a great pool player. Relax,” and Louis reclined his seat and closed his eyes. 

Harry began to pull through gears on the highway and Louis opened one eye over at him, “not too fast, stomach, please, Wendys” Harry began to laugh as Louis pulled his seat back forward. “Nuggets, please.” Louis smiled over at Harry as he pulled off the highway toward the nearest Wendys. 

Once they got their food through the drive through, they pulled into a parking spot. “Thanks for being my partner, Harold” Louis said in a sloppy drunk tone.   
“Not my name, and don’t thank me - wouldn’t have asked for anyone else to play against them,” Harry smiled into his large sprite.   
Louis smiled and faced forward as he shoved another chicken nugget into his mouth and bopped back and forth to music that wasn’t even playing. It was one in the morning and Harry’s phone began to ring. He looked down at it and held up one finger to Louis as to say, hold on.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Yeah, I just went out with guys, we played some pool.”

“Crazy story, actually. You’ll love it! We got called out to play and we won! The guys had to pay our almost $800 tab. Crazy! Louis basically ran the table toward the end-”

“Yeah, Louis! I asked him to be on my team, he’s really good!”

Just then, right after Louis heard his name come out of Harry’s mouth, fireworks erupted on the other end of the phone. Louis could hear a man screaming so loud that he’s surprised Harry wasn’t going deaf through it. 

“Literally what are you talking about? You can’t tell me who I can and can’t hang out with.”

“No you can’t, Michael.”

“Oh, you’re going to leave me? Because I’m hanging out with a friend, what do you want me to do? Not hang out with him?”

Just then, Harry pulled out of the Wendy’s parking lot and toward Bellevue Hills Drive. He remained on the phone until they pulled into Louis’ driveway, Louis was silent the entire way home. His eyes stung and were tinged red. He just became close with Harry, and he really didn’t want to lose him already. Louis didn’t have many friends to hang out with outside of work, and Harry made him feel like there was someone else out there he could relate to. The last thing he wanted to do was cause waves in a relationship, but he also didn’t want to lose someone who has become so important to him so quickly.

“Michael, I’ve got to go. We can talk tomorrow, I’m dropping Louis off now,” It was almost like Harry didn’t know when to omit things from his conversations, because this set Michael off even more. 

“HE’S BEEN IN THE CAR WITH YOU THIS ENTIRE TIME?” Louis could hear clear as day on the other line. “I DON’T WANT YOU SEEING HIM AGAIN, OR ELSE WE’RE DONE.” Harry’s eyes glossed over. It looked like he was about to cry at the proposition given to him. “Okay, Michael, I hear you. I get it. I have to go, we’ll talk tomorrow.” Harry hung up the phone and stared ahead toward Louis’ house. Abruptly Louis swung the door open and threw his head to the side and began throwing up all of the strawberry margaritas, chicken nuggets and the cheeseburger he just consumed earlier that day. He got up out of the car and walked toward his front door without saying a word to Harry. He was embarrassed and humiliated thinking that his friendship may have been enough for Harry to tell his Fiance that he wouldn’t not be his friend. They’ve only been friends for about a month, but Louis thought his friendship was just as important to Harry as Harry’s was to him. 

Louis was at the steps of his home, hands clammy, forehead sweating and tears rolling down his cheeks. It was obvious to him that this wasn’t enough for Harry to negotiate over. Just as he was about to take the last step up to his front door, the engine of the Corvette cut out and a door opened. Footsteps behind Louis got closer and he stopped moving up the stairs. When he turned around Harry was at the bottom of the stairs as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Lou. I’m so fucking sorry,” was all he could choke out before full on crying on the bottom step. “I don’t know what you want me to do, I’d get it if you hated me,” Louis was coming down from his drunk state and feeling the pain harder than he wanted to. Just as Louis was about to turn around and go for the door again, he knelt down to the bottom step and grabbed Harry’s right hand in his. He squeezed it twice in reassurance and made his way to the front door. He began taking off his shoes and clothes stained with vomit in the mud room and stripped down to just his boxers. He looked out to the front steps to see Harry still crying with his head in his hands. 

“Well, come on then. If it’s going to be our last night hanging out might as well not end it so shit. You coming in or what?”


	6. The Beginning

CHAPTER 6:

While Louis was showering the vomit off himself and hoping to sober up, Harry made himself at home around the kitchen table with a peanut butter sandwich and cup of coffee from the Keurig. When he waltzed into the Tomlinson home he felt tense and awkward. Their home was big considering it had to inhabit multiple children and Louis’ parents. Harry was intimidated to say the least, but when Louis told him to make himself at home, he scoured the cabinets until he found something worth consuming. It was a long night and he didn’t plan on staying too late, just long enough to have this draining conversation with Louis. It wasn’t like Michael to act the way he did - Harry knew there was something underlying there. When he told Harry that he knew Louis had a crush on him, Harry shook it off - but he had hoped Louis didn’t hear him through the phone. It wasn’t weird to hang out with his friends, but Harry didn’t understand why Louis was any different than Zayn or any of the other guys at the bar. Michael “had a feeling” and that was what he was basing his anger off of. It frustrated him that Michael didn’t trust him after all of these years together, but he understood that being away for months at a time really put a strain on their relationship. Even if Louis did like him, he knew he wouldn’t act on it, and it shouldn’t matter to Michael anyway. There were so many things he wanted to say to Louis, but he loved Michael to death. He was going to marry the man after all, he thought of even biting the bullet and adopting to save their relationship even though he really didn’t want a child.

Deep in thought, Harry didn’t even hear Louis coming down the stairs or even the water stop running. The only thing he could pay attention to were his thoughts consuming his head about how he was going to go about telling Louis that he couldn’t hang around him anymore, or at least not as much. 

Louis stood on the bottom step right before his kitchen in a navy towel around his waist and his hairy messy from the water. He looked at Harry who now had a mouth full of peanut butter and his sister’s hand painted coffee cup in his hand and couldn’t help but smile at him. Even though the situation at hand wasn’t the best, he still found humor in Harry drinking out of a cup that had different color hearts and smiley faces painted around it. 

“Give me a minute, my clothes are downstairs,” Louis strolled down the next set of stairs to the laundry where he grabbed a pair of Adidas joggers and a white t-shirt and ran back up them to greet Harry. He sat across from him in the wooden chairs and smiled. 

“We don’t have to talk about it, yknow, I get it” was all Louis could say before Harry threw his head back and let out an exaggerated huff. 

“Louis, I just spent the entirety of your shower planning a conversation to have with you, we’re talking about it,” Louis nodded and walked to the refrigerator where he grabbed himself and Harry a bottle of water knowing that this may be a long conversation. Louis prompted him to continue. 

“Lou, that man means everything to me, y’know? I wouldn’t have asked him to marry me otherwise. He has never once acted like this. I tell him about Zayn, I tell him about Liam, hell, I even tell him stories about how fast Niall runs circles around the other servers at work. But every time I bring you up, he gets tense. He turns into someone I don’t know, Lou, I-”

“H, I’m not upset with you. I am a bit sad. This may sound crazy, but you’ve become really important to me really quickly.” Louis fired back at him holding his tongue because he had so more that he wanted to say. It wasn’t like Louis to hold back, and he’s not sure that he could after all of his thinking in the shower. The alcohol was subsiding and he was beginning to feel like himself again, the severity of the phone call in the car sobered him up quite a bit. 

“You don’t understand Lou, we’ve been together a long time. I love spending time with you, I really do. It’s probably best if we lay low, just quick hi’s or whatever at work. I’ll still walk you out, help you pick what you want for dinner and all that, I just love-”

“Him, yeah, I know. You said that.” Louis rolled his eyes and couldn’t help but allow the attitude to bubble up to his throat. He felt like he was being broken up with without even dating the guy. His heart hurt and that only triggered his fast tongue even more. “Shame, huh? Poor lad can’t even trust you. Some engagement built on poor communication and lies,” Louis’ words rolled off his tongue like he was talking to his worst enemy. He didn’t mean the words he was saying, but he was so hurt he felt like he couldn’t stop. “Have you told him about the babies, H? Seems like it could be quite the deal breaker if you ask me.” Harry’s eyes began to water, and Louis stood up from the kitchen table, hands in his hair. 

“You don’t strike me as the type of guy who let’s someone else dictate who they can and can’t be friends with. Sounds like a pretty tyrannical relationship you’ve got for yourself,” Harry nodded his head in agreement at the statement Louis just spit at him.

“Louis-”

“It’s alright, H. No need to pretend that this was anything worth saving to you.”

“Louis, enough.” He didn’t even realize Harry stood up until he grabbed him by his shoulders like he did only a few hours ago before he shot the 8 ball into the pocket. Harry’s eyes were bloodshot and his hair was nearly flat from constantly running his hands through it. “You’re right, about everything. He can’t tell me who I can and can’t be friends with. I will be talking to him about the kids, I just don’t know how. If I tell him I don’t want children, he’ll leave me. All of this would just end up being a waste of time,” Harry sat back down and let out a slight sob. Louis was crying too, not sure if it was out of hurt or frustration. They sat in silence for some time until Harry broke the thick air again. 

“I should go, I’ll see you at work.” It was already 4:08 in the morning, Louis’ parents wouldn’t be home until noon the next day, so he offered Harry a night at his house.

“Don’t be silly. My neighbors will literally call the cops if you leave right now. I’ll bring blankets for the couch, or you can stay in the guest room. My parents will be home around noon and they don’t really like people spending the night. As long as we’re up by 10 you can definitely stay,”

Harry took him up on the offer agreeing that the neighbors would not be happy being woken up by a roaring Corvette. Louis brought him down a blanket and a pillow and brought over his water from the kitchen table. 

“Goodnight Harry,” Louis waved as he began to walk up the stairs. 

“Goodnight Lou,” Harry started and then changed his tone quickly, “oh, and Lou, don’t you dare ever tell me this friendship isn’t worth saving.”

Louis trudged up the stairs in a messy state and flopped down on his bed. His head felt heavy and he couldn’t keep his eyes open enough to not think about Harry. He never knew what it was like to want to fight for something so bad, but he was going to fight for Harry to stay in his life - but only if Harry wanted to.

\-----

Louis woke up to his phone buzzing on the corner of his bed, way earlier than he wanted to be up. It was a text from Niall, of course. He seemed to be the king of waking Louis up before his alarm. 

“Let me know what Dave has to say, hope you still have your job mate, lol x” 

Louis threw his phone and jumped out of bed. He flicked through his blankets in a frantic way to check the time on the phone he literally just threw and it was 9:30, if he left now he would get there on time to meet Dave for 10. He threw on khaki cargo shorts and a light blue v-neck shirt and ran downstairs. He would worry about showering after. He brushed his teeth and pulled his shoes on as quickly as he could before waking Harry.

“Harry, you have to get up. I have to be at the bar in a half hour to meet Dave. I totally forgot. Harry WAKE UP,” He jumped off the couch and ended up on the floor in a mess of blankets and pillows. He started folding them in a state that suggested he was asleep and gave them to Louis to put them away. 

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll drive, I want to drive your car,” Louis usually would say no, but Harry was a more skilled driver in terms of getting somewhere fast. He nodded quickly and they left the house as fast as they could. 

Harry pulled the Mustang through all six gears down the highway and got to the bar in under 10 minutes. There were no troopers hiding out, and even if there were, Harry was going way too fast for them to catch him anyway. Louis walked through the front door at 9:46 and made a mad dash to Dave’s office. Before he could knock, he heard Dave call for him to open the door- he must’ve been watching the cameras from inside. He opened the door to the big office and gestured for Louis to sit down. The office had a massive desk, shelves filled with manuals, books, signs, recipes, menus, anything you could possibly need to run a restaurant, and the infamous black couch. The servers always joked about it being the “casting couch” and it made Louis squirm to have to sit on it. He did as he was told, however, considering this could be his last day employed anyway. 

“How are you? You look tired. I gave you the night off, expected you to get some rest, lad.” Louis nodded along and a slight yawn escaped his mouth. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the altercation the other night,” just then, Louis’ heart sank just a little more. He was convinced he was going to lose his job right then and there. “The girls don’t want to work the door anymore, they’re afraid of fights and getting hurt. It’s become a big fiasco amongst the hosts, actually.” Louis let out a massive sigh and began,

“Look, Dave, I’m sorry. It’s my fault those guys were banned and angry and it’s my fault Harry threw a punch. I understand you letting me go, it’s for the best,” a hefty laugh escaped Dave’s rounded mouth. 

“Letting you go?” He laughed some more. “Louis, I am not letting you go because of a group of homophobic guys. Zayn and Harry did what they were hired to do, protect my staff. I asked you to come in to offer you a new position,” Louis sat forward intrigued but also confused by this conversation. 

“None of the girls want to take cover charges anymore, I want you to do it,” Louis’ eyes widened, this was his dream job. 

“It’s a bit of a paycut, Dave,” Louis began and Dave closed his eyes and held his finger out making Louis stop in the middle of his sentence. 

“Of course it’s a paycut. I’m not asking you to be a host again, I want you to manage the girls up there. You will be a restaurant manager, specifically to the host stand and come 9 o’clock, you will be in charge of money at the doors. I will pay you $25 an hour. It is more responsibility, but you already know how to do all of the duties a manager does - you’ve been here long enough. We will work around your school schedule - I just want to show you that I appreciate your dedication to this restaurant.”

They talked more about the position and the expectations and by the time the conversation was over Louis was grinning ear to ear and shook Dave’s hand. His new position was everything he could have ever wanted, but he worried about spending hours at a time with Harry in a confined doorway. He wasn’t about to let that stop him from taking the job, though. Walking out of the office, Niall’s name was already clicked to be called on Louis’ phone. He told him all about it on the way back to the Mustang. Niall was happy for him, he couldn’t wait to see manager Lou in all of his glory. 

When he opened the passenger seat of his own car, he was all smiles. “Alright Ni, I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone just in time for Harry to ask how everything went. Louis’ explained everything and Harry seemed more excited about it than Louis was. He reached over and pulled Louis into a tight hug. There were too many emotions flowing through their bodies and Louis wasn’t sure if Harry was just really proud of him, or if he thought it may be the last time that they hugged like this.

\-----

July came in hot as Louis dove head first into his new position at the bar. Everyone adjusted to his new power quickly and respected him as their superior. He felt like he was finally being appreciated for his time devoted to the restaurant. A month of open-close doubles always left him tired at the end of the day and his feet sore, but it was worth it to see his paycheck at the end of the week. The girls at the host stand loved him because he understood how to make a proper schedule and took all of their needs into consideration. They really love Louis and hoped that he would continue to manage them for a while. It was always nice having your superior being someone at least a little close in age with you.

The thing that bothered Louis the most was the lull between Harry and himself. Every weekend night he would head out to the front doorway dressed to impress and grinning from ear to ear. He would talk to Harry about guests that came in, what one of the girls may have done, or even how much Dave talks about him to others. Harry was there, but definitely not all there. It wasn’t like Louis to ignore someone’s feelings, but he had a funny feeling he already knew what was wrong. He was trying to keep his distance from Louis, to make the separation easier for the both of them. Harry was aware how hard this was for Louis, but he believed it was even harder for him. He never really spoke much, other than to answer Louis’ ridiculous stories or to mention something he and Zayn did while they were hanging out. The sting of not being invited usually subsided fairly quickly understanding that it was for the best. Most nights ended in Zayn walking him to his car with an apologetic smile on his face and a tight hug. 

The third Saturday of the month started off no different. Louis strolled into the manager's office with an iced coffee in one hand and his bag in the other. “Good afternoon, Dave! Happy Saturday,” Dave always liked Louis’ chipper attitude and complimented him on it every day that he came in. It was 4pm when his shift began, just in time for dinner. Niall was on the top tier of the dining room taking two big parties of 14 each, so that would take up most of his section for the night. He was okay with it, given the money he has been making the past couple of weeks. When he walked over to the host stand to ask when his parties were coming in, how many kids there would be, if he would need any highchairs, or if there were any allergies, Louis pulled him into a hug tight enough that knocked his black framed glasses off his face. Thankfully they were just for show, he thought it gave him an edgier look for his tables. Louis told Niall everything about Harry, and while Louis hasn’t admitted it to himself yet, Niall knows he’s only taking it so hard because he has developed some sort of feelings for the lad. He hugged him back knowingly and turned around so Louis could tie his apron around him. Nights like these were what kept Louis going through all of the other stress in his life - the only thing that mattered to him was his job. 

Around 8:30 Zayn came into the back entrance with four Red Bulls in his hands, one for himself, one for Louis, and one for Harry and the other for Liam. It was rumored to be a busy Saturday since it was so nice outside and all the bouncers were scheduled to work. The restaurant issued an “all hands on deck” order and didn’t let anyone take the night off. Zayn wore his company short sleeve polo exposing his intricate sleeve of tattoos down his arm and black skinny jeans. His black boots laced and tucked under his jeans just enough to see the imprint on his mid calf. He took the time to do his hair in a slicked back quiff and smelled of aftershave. If Louis didn’t think of Zayn as anything but family he would be insanely attracted to him tonight. 

“Hey, guy! How are you, I feel like we don’t talk much anymore,” Louis could barely keep the smile on his face when he went to react to this comment and stopped. 

“Doing good, this place is keeping me busy. How’s Harry?” The words came out of his mouth faster than he could think about them and he regretted it immediately. He hasn’t spoken about Harry to anyone other than Niall, so he hoped it wouldn’t be weird.

“Doing okay, weird today. Wouldn’t call me back, hope he’s coming in - why?” Zayn asked with a small pout across his face as if Louis knew something that he didn’t. He hadn’t talked to Harry outside of work since the day of his promotion. He shrugged his shoulders and lowly murmured “just wondering,” in Zayn’s direction. They both parted ways as Louis took his bag into the bathroom and got ready for his time taking cover. While he was gone, Harry walked through the doors and straight to the computer to clock in, head down the whole way. He made a quick dash to the doorway to begin the set up of the ID machine and cover register, not speaking to anyone the whole time. Zayn opened the doors only to find Harry with a red face and tinged eyes. 

“He wants kids, man. I’m not enough, he says he can’t go his whole life without a child of his own.” 

Harry started sobbing into Zayn’s chest and Zayn took him outside as quickly as he could. It would be terrible if anyone watched Harry cry, Zayn knew he would be embarrassed to say the least, so he defused the situation as quickly as he could. Harry’s sobs cut through Zayn’s heart like a knife and made him want to hurt anything or anyone who could make him feel this way. When they were far enough away from the front door, Liam poked his head outside and gestured to the ID machine understanding that he would start checking them for Harry while he calmed down. Liam always knew just what everyone needed and was always willing to help his friends. Zayn and Harry sat on the sidewalk as groups of girls the occasional couple walked by them into the bar. Louis finally joined Liam at the front door where he watched Harry from a distance wipe his hands over his face over and over. Liam gave Louis a short smile and began a conversation about what his plans are for the rest of the summer in order to take his mind off of what was happening outside.

“He doesn’t want me if I can’t say I want a child, Z. I’ve done nothing but accommodate for him, I even stopped fucking talking to my friends.” Zayn understood what he was alluding to, everyone saw the change in Louis and Harry’s friendship and it affected everyone equally. The group chats around the bar top weren’t the same without their banter, and instead of making one peanut butter milkshake for Harry and the other Oreo for Louis at the same time, Alyssa made them separately at different times throughout the night. It was uncomfortable, but everyone tried to understand. “I can’t believe a child is an actual deal breaker,” Zayn shook his head, aware of the actual problem in their relationship. Everyone around Harry and Louis knew that there was more to their relationship than they let on, or that they even knew. Being in a confined space with someone for hours on end really allows you to get to know someone, and the times they spent outside of work were just as special. 

“You sure this is just about the baby, H?” Harry looked at Zayn confused and angry - Zayn knew that he shouldn’t have said it, not at work anyway. 

“What are you talking about?” Harry spat back quickly and matter of factly. 

“Seems like there were more underlying issues than just that, seemed like that was just the icing on the cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love Michael and I think he’s great, but you guys have been writing two different stories for some time now.” Harry nodded his head and tears began to flow again, “hell, just the other day we were sitting at the bar and you told me in a Michael-less hypothetical world that you would date Louis even though he’s young,” Harry stood up abruptly and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. 

“We should go back in,” he said before hugging Zayn tightly. “Thank you.”

They made their way back through the doors and Harry assumed his position behind the black ID machine, Liam clapped him on the back and walked into the bar with Zayn and Brandon in tow. Harry wore his usual uniform, but his hair was just slightly more messy than usual. Louis assumed it was because of the amount of times he rubbed his hand through it. He was visibly stressed, and Louis wasn’t going to ask him why. But, it wasn’t going to be a quiet night if Louis had anything to do with it. 

“Brought you a Reese’s, and some peanut butter m&ms,” Louis held out the candy he stopped to buy before his shift and held it out to the grown man sniffling next to him. Instead of taking the candy, Harry smiled wide enough to show his teeth and grabbed Louis into a tight enough hug that would crack someone’s back. Behind the glass doors in the bar you could hear Niall begin to cheer and Alyssa smacking him directly after. “You’ve been so down, they’re your favorites, right?” Louis said muffled into Harry’s chest.

“Yes, Lou. They are,” Harry whispered into his hair and planted a small kiss on top of his head inhaling deeply. Guests walked in to check their IDs and the two of them didn’t even notice until Niall plowed through the doors yelling, “CAN’T YOU SEE THEIR HAVING A MOMENT - PLEASE COME IN AND GET PISS DRUNK AND LEAVE THEM ALONE,” Louis pulled out of Harry’s grip laughing harder than ever with the candy still in his hands. Harry took the Reese’s and opened it revealing one peanut butter cup at a time. In one bite he ate the entire cup whole. 

“I’ve missed you, Lou.” 

“You didn’t really have to go, mate. But I understand. You’re saving your relationship, yeah? Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Louis began and Harry’s mouth formed a small frown while a Reese’s filled his cheeks. 

“About that-” he began only to be cut off by the opening door. 3 guys and a girl walked through the door and Louis eyed them all as they passed him. Harry seemed to have the same ideas and looked at their IDs longer than usual. One of the guys with thick brown hair turned to face Louis and looked him up and down. 

“Louis, right? Sick Mustang - must be nice to have things handed to you, huh?” Harry’s sadness turned into swift anger and stepped in between the two.

“That’s enough, enjoy your night,” he slurred into the man’s face as he held the door open into the bar. The four of them walked in laughing and smiling back at Louis.

“You don’t have to always protect me, Harry. I don’t even know how he knows my name or what kind of car I have. Weird, anyways, continue,”

Harry started and stopped over and over again while the doors continued to open and guests poured in. They knew it was going to be a busy night, but they didn’t anticipate it to be this busy. Guests flooded the outdoor patio and the lounge and the entire bar section. The top of Niall's blonde hair was barely visible as he ran around the restaurant. It was endearing to see him so caught up in his job. Louis missed working alongside him, but this promotion was definitely for the best.

“Told him I don’t want any kids, Lou,” Harry said through gritted teeth as he checked the IDs of an older couple who gave him a hard time for asking for their IDs in the first place. “Didn’t take it too well.” The conversation continued on, and Louis felt relieved to say the least but he didn’t know why. He wasn’t sure what to say, or how to respond, but he was sure just listening was enough for Harry. 

“So are you done? That’s it?” Louis found himself asking even though he really didn’t want to. It seemed like he was just full of word vomit tonight but he just kept going. 

“I don’t know yet, we’re both taking the time to think. He really wants a kid, and I just can’t compromise on that.” Harry said quietly. 

By the time the conversation was finally over after all of the interruptions and Harry’s obnoxious chomping of the Peanut Butter M&Ms, it was closing time. 

Louis pulled out his phone and texted his mom, “Having Niall and a few guys over. We’ll be downstairs, gonna be quiet, promise. x” His mom answered quickly with a simple “okay honey x” and he put his phone back in his pocket. He hadn’t even asked anyone yet but he knew they’d come. 

Niall was busy wiping down his tables when Louis bounced over to him happier than he’s been in a while. “Come to my place, yeah? Gonna invite the guys, they didn’t break up yet but Harry needs some cheering up,” Niall cut him off with a throaty groan, “don’t get all excited Lou, he was engaged.” Louis didn’t understand what he was talking about, but he was excited. He internally hoped that it was over between them - Harry would have nothing tying him to Nebraska and he would move back home and he could still be friends with Louis. That was definitely enough to excite him. 

When he walked back over to the bar top he sat down with all of the bouncers - “Niall is coming back to mine to hang for a bit, anyone wanna come with?” Brandon was exhausted from his night and was the first to say no. Zayn and Liam had already changed out of their bar uniforms and into their clean clothes, “Sorry mate, me and Li are going into Boston for Danielle’s sister’s birthday, next time though.” Harry remained quiet and didn’t give Louis a direct answer. 

“Let’s go servers - big money night. You’re all getting individually walked to your car. Everyone pick a bouncer and let’s GO” Liam yelled through the restaurant eager to leave. Just then Louis appeared by Harry’s side clearly picking him. Harry turned to face the wall and Louis saw the corners of his mouth go up as he was walking. This seemed like a good sign, anyway. 

Everyone called out their goodbyes and spilt off to their cars. Niall and Louis parked next to each other and Harry dropped them off at their cars. Niall quickly jumped into his Wrangler and gave the other two privacy knowingly. 

“It’s been a long night, come by mine? Niall and I are probably just going to play games downstairs and have a drink or so. Take your mind off things,” Harry was looking down at the asphalt the entire time Louis was talking. He nodded slowly in agreement, “yeah, you’re right. Should I take my car, or will I wake your family?” Louis laughed and told him he was sure it would be okay if he drove his own car. They parted ways and the three boys drove their way to Louis’ house down the empty highway. Harry grabbed four gears and started quickly leaving the on ramp, Louis decided that he’d give Harry a run for his money. Before Harry could even punch fifth Louis dumped the clutch and blew through all six finally grabbing traction as he passed the nose of the Corvette. They left Niall behind in his Jeep but he didn’t mind. He drove in amazement never seeing Louis drive like he was now. There were sirens blaring from behind Niall chasing after the two sports cars and all he could do was shake his head. The last thing they needed was to get caught drag racing - Niall guessed that Louis learned how to finally show his car no mercy from Harry, but he hoped he knew what he was doing.

By the time Niall got to Louis’ house there were no cars in sight, he could only imagine what was happening or if the two of them were involved in a high speed chase through the inner cities. Louis’ garage door began rising only for Niall to see Harry and Louis smiling and beckoning him inside quickly. Niall ran toward the house and they shut the rising door fast. In his garage was the Mustang tucked nicely away but the Corvette was still nowhere to be found. 

“It’s behind the fence in the backyard,” Harry sounded out of breath high on his own adrenaline, sweat forming above his brow. Sirens sounded like they were getting louder and the three boys looked out the garage window stealthy to not be seen in the night. The police turned their sirens off as they crept around Bellevue Hills Drive looking for the new cars. “This is my favorite part,” Louis whispered under his breath as they watched the cruiser drive by the house. 

Coming down from their highs they trudged through the mudroom and down into Louis’ finished basement. Harry was the only one to kick his boots off before stepping into Louis’ home. It was something ingrained in his head considering Michael was anal about the cleanliness of their home. Louis’ basement was clearly lived in, but all of the kids' things were clean and tightly packed away into their respective homes. Louis’ PS4 was carefully placed in the TV stand and his flatscreen securely on the wall above it. 

“Alright boys, got two controllers, who’s up first and who’s grabbing drinks?” Louis plucked his two controllers off of their respective charging ports and held them in the air, “no worries, I’ll grab a few beers out of the fridge - I’ll play winner,” Harry waltzed over to the fridge and before he could open it he saw lines of magnets progressing through the years of Louis in his Soccer uniforms. It made Harry smile to see the progression from young Louis with one foot on the ball, to Highschool Louis with a C on his jersey with the ball tucked tightly under his armpit. The last photo on the refrigerator was Louis and his parents on what looked to be his senior night on the pitch. Quickly, his mood changed as he thought to Michael - he never wanted a child. He was too busy to make it to all of their games, too busy to pick them up from school, too busy to be a dad. A child deserves better than that, and Harry wasn’t willing to give that, not yet anyway. He opened up the fridge and grabbed three Michelob Ultras, he guessed they were Louis’ favorite. 

Niall was on one couch, Louis on the other. Harry found comfort in sitting next to Louis and handed them both their beers. Harry kicked his feet up on the couch and watched the two play Fifa into the night laughing and joking along. Around 2:30, Louis’ mom came down the stairs and they all propped up and looked at her across the room. 

“Were we too loud, Mrs. Tomlinson?” Niall broke the ice first before she began to chuckle. 

“No, Niall. Just wanted to come down and offer you boys to spend the night. Your father is already talking about checking out that Corvette behind the fence in the morning, if you wouldn’t mind,” she nodded her head at Harry who nodded back. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the street all night and that cruiser hasn’t left the top of the street since you boys came barrelling in,” her mouth curved into a small smile. Harry’s face was red and he didn’t know what to say. “I think you should stay here until he’s gone anyway, we heard you guys while you were on the highway and knew you were heading this way,” Niall and Harry nodded their heads in agreement and Louis gulped loudly. He was confused as to why his mother was allowing them to sleepover, but it seemed like she was just protecting him. 

“Thanks, Mrs. Tomlinson. I’m Harry by the way. Your husband can take a look at the car whenever he wakes up - my keys are in the mudroom,” she giggled a bit under her breath and walked back upstairs to her bedroom. It was unlike his mom to act this way.

Harry laid back down on the couch and put his pillow against Louis’ leg while he and Niall continued to play. Louis’ face reddened and hoped it wasn't noticeable that Harry was making him blush by simply putting his head close to him. After a long, emotional day for Harry, it was nice that he was finally relaxing. They turned the game off and relaxed for a bit all on their phones making small conversation here and there and watching Zayn and Liam’s snapchats occasionally wishing they were invited. Harry made himself comfortable against the pillow while his breathing started to even out, instinctively Louis ran his fingers through his long hair like he would to his baby sisters to get them to go to sleep. They stayed like this for a while while Louis massaged his scalp and ran his nails through his hair gently. It wasn’t until Niall saw the reflection in the now turned off black TV of what Louis was doing and shot up from his spot on the other couch when Louis realized what he was doing.

Niall gestured his hand toward the two of them and mouthed “WHAT are you doing?” at Louis who didn’t pull away. He shrugged his shoulders and continued moving his fingers through Harry’s hair. With his freehand he texted Niall, “can’t move now, mate. He’s asleep.” Niall rolled his eyes and laid back down ignoring what was happening on the other couch. Louis stood up slowly and grabbed them all blankets out of the linen closet; he threw one at Niall and placed one over Harry’s sleeping body gently only to take his place back in the seat next to him. When he pulled the blanket up toward Harry’s neck his green eyes opened softly and glistened under the lamp light on the table next to them. He grabbed Louis’ hand and gave it too quick squeezes before letting it go again. 

Louis was sure everything was going to end up alright.


	7. Phone Calls

CHAPTER 7:

Around 10 o’clock the next morning Harry woke up to 11 texts and 3 missed calls all from Michael. He groaned, rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow to begin reading the messages. Nebraska is one hour behind and Harry kept that in mind when talking to Michael while he was in Massachusetts. 

6:00am “Up at 5 like my body doesn’t know how to adjust with you not being here, miss you”

6:15am “I know you worked late last night & you’re asleep but it sucks not having you here”

6:47am MISSED CALL FROM MICHAEL<3

6:54am “H, you know I hate fighting with you so please call me when you wake up”

6:55am “It’s not fair, you always knew I wanted kids. But I want you too, babe!”

7:13am “Please call me once you wake up, I know you have cars to be working on today but this is important.”

7:39am “You’re probably out with Z or something. I know it’s already 7 there.”

7:58am “I know it’s not fair of me to do this, but I am your fiance for as long as you want me to be I guess. But I deserve answers. This sucks Harry and I don’t want to sit by the phone waiting for you all day.”

8:17am MISSED CALL FROM MICHAEL<3

8:49am “You really can’t budge on having a child, you know this is all I want in life. I’m a teacher jesus christ. I can’t just sit around and not have a child of my own. Please consider it, H. I really want this to work out between us I love you so much xoxo”

9:04am “Babe, I know there is more to this than a child. We CAN work this out, even if we don’t - can we still be best friends?”

9:23am “I’ve been talking to lots of people out here trying to clear my mind of all of this and it’s not working”

9:38am MISSED CALL FROM MICHAEL<3

9:52am “Harry it’s already 10 there, I’m going to file a missing person’s report if you don’t call me back. I barely slept last night thinking about this. I love you so much, if you need space please just tell me. 

Harry looked over to the other couches to see that no one was with him. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and folded his blanket nicely on the couch. After using the bathroom and fluffing his hair a bit he walked out and up the stairs into the kitchen where he saw Louis and Niall cooking breakfast together. There were already plates on the table, napkins set and bacon frying. He scratched his head and smiled to himself, he is always the one that does the cooking - it’s nice to actually be cooked for for once. 

“Good morning, you snore,” Niall blurted out. Louis snorted as he flipped the french toast and Harry playfully punched Niall in the arm. 

“How do you like your eggs?” 

“Uh, scrambled I guess,”

“Good, Louis can’t flip an egg to save his life, it was going to come out scrambled anyway.” 

They all laughed together and for a brief moment Harry forgot about all the problems happening in his private life. It was nice to laugh with friends without anyone bringing up Michael. Zayn always wanted to know the details of what was happening, and while Harry appreciated the concern, it wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to talk about. Harry sat down at the table and poured some orange juice in a glass set out for him. Just as he was about to take his first sip, the front door connecting the mudroom to the kitchen flew open and presented a shorter man whom Louis resembled and Harry assumed it to be his father. 

“Harry! You’re awake, come pop this hood and take me for a drive around the neighborhood!” Louis rolled his eyes and tried to explain to his dad that he had just woken up, but Harry said it was no bother. He slipped on his black boots from the night before and walked out to the backyard to show off his car. From the kitchen Louis and Niall could hear the engine spring to life as they continued to cook. 

“That fucking phone vibrated all morning mate, bet it was the guy,” Niall started but Louis just shook his head and continued cooking, “none of my business, just trying to be a good friend,” Niall tilted his head in confusion and went back to watching his bacon sizzle in the pan below him.

\-----

Later that night Harry laid on his couch and decided to facetime Michael. Everyone was working at the bar for dinner and Zayn gave him the night off to sort out his life. It was a much needed night off after his night with Louis and Niall. His head was confused and he wasn’t sure what was happening at all.

Michael answered the facetime call on the first ring and waved to Harry smiling. 

“So good to see you babe, I miss you,” was all Harry could say before realizing that this wouldn’t be just a friendly ‘miss you’ type of conversation. They’ve been going back and forth on the phone texting all day and it was time to actually have the conversation he needed to have. 

“You need to come out here, we’re not doing this over the phone, H. We have a lot to discuss, and I won’t do it unless you’re here with me,”

“I understand, I will book a flight tonight and be out by Tuesday the latest,” Harry learned it was best not to fight. He learned quickly after traveling so much that fighting over the phone only meant nothing would be resolved. 

“I do miss you though.. do you think we could be enough? Do you think we could ever compromise?” 

Michael’s words cut Harry like a knife and a tear rolled down his icy cheek. “I love you, Mike” was all Harry could let out. “I have to go, I will let you know the time to pick me up at the airport.”

They exchanged more I love yous through their sobbing breaths and hung up the phone. Harry closed his eyes and remembered all of the good years he spent with Michael by his side. The cars he worked on while Michael brought him drinks into the garage, the nights out with their friends, and most importantly to Harry, the nights in their bed sharing stories about their day. He wanted to spend forever with him, but he couldn’t get over the idea that just him was not enough. His head was clouded with thoughts of his crumbling relationship, and all he could think about was Louis. He pulled out his phone and sent him a text just to thank him for everything he’s done for him, especially last night and early that morning. 

“Harry, you are very welcome. Don’t thank me, mate, it’s what friends are for,” Harry continued to cry more after receiving that in response. He was confused, hurt and tired of everything happening around him. He booked his flight out of Logan Airport early Tuesday morning to arrive in Nebraska at 11am, he would be back in Massachusetts exactly a week from then whether he is still engaged or not. He sent the details to Michael and instantly fell asleep while laying on the couch. It was only 8pm.

He woke up in a cold sweat around 1:30 in the morning frantic from the dream that he had. When he checked his phone, he had a couple of texts from Zayn and Liam’s group chat and one text from Louis. He checked Louis’ first,

11:19 pm “I know it’s been hard, just give me a call if you ever need anything. Doesn’t matter what time it is, we can always grab chicken nuggies from Wendys if you want or shoot a round of pool, whatever you need H”

Like a smitten schoolboy he smiled to himself and rolled his head into his pillow as if to hide his blush. He hadn’t gotten this way with anyone since he first started dating Michael. Harry was sure he didn’t have feelings for Louis, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. 

“Maui tomorrow night, need to talk to you anyway. Just me and you, please?” Harry wrote back not expecting an answer from Louis until morning. 

His phone started buzzing in his hand not even two minutes after pressing send. A picture of Louis popped up on his phone from the day that they went to Toby Keith’s with a burger the size of his head in the frame. Harry sat up and answered the phone after the second ring trying not to seem too eager. 

“Hey, Lou. Hope my text didn’t wake you.” While Harry was finishing his sentence he heard Louis’ mustang in the background shifting gears and his stomach dropped. He figured he was home fast asleep considering he didn’t close the bar tonight. 

“Nope! I was out with Niall’s friend Danny, had a few drinks tonight. He’s pretty fit. Anyway, I know you didn’t say you needed to talk and then say it would be tomorrow as if things like that didn’t make me anxious,” Louis laughed through the phone but Harry felt his heart sink a little. He never thought of Louis out with another guy, and what that would feel like. He never even imagined him having any other friends other than the ones from the bar. Not that he was the type of person not to have friends, but the employees at the bar were such a close group he never thought of an outsider being around. Harry gulped loudly thinking about Louis out with Danny and instantly felt jealous. He knew his relationship with Michael was on the fence, but he never thought he’d be jealous over Louis having another friend.

“No, Lou, ‘snothing important. Thought you were asleep that’s all, figured we’d play a game or two if you wanted. Kill two birds with one stone,” Harry said softly into the phone to be sure Louis didn’t hear the shake in his voice.

“I’ll come over now AND we can go to Maui tomorrow, that alright? Send me your address, yeah? I’ll throw it in the GPS,” Harry texted him his address and asked him to cut the engine when he turned onto his street but to have enough momentum to coast to his house to be sure not to wake his mom who was asleep upstairs.

15 minutes later Louis pulled into Harry’s driveway at a slow roll barely making it to his house. Harry walked out to the Mustang in grey sweatpants and a black short sleeve T-Shirt with pink clouds on it and got into the passenger seat. Louis grabbed him and pulled him into a hug before he could even say hello so instead he just smiled a toothy smile and wrapped his hands around Louis as well. Harry could smell Louis’ usual Polo Black mixed with a stronger more musty smelling cologne and it made his stomach turn. The thoughts of Louis intertwined with this mysterious Danny made Harry queasy, but Louis pulled him out of his thoughts quickly. 

“So! Don’t leave me hanging, let’s get right to it. I’m nervous as it is here,” Louis started and Harry put his pointer finger in the air against Louis’ mouth. “Please,” Harry began and Louis got the hint.

“I’m going home Tuesday morning, I need to figure my life out,” Louis’ eyes sunk into his head. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all. He assumed that Harry would never have to go back there again, he thought his relationship was over. He began to play out all of the scenarios in his head, the most apparent being that he was never going to see Harry again, but Harry interrupted his thinking,

“Okay? Lou? Say something,”

“When will you be back? You have to come back, right?”

Harry chuckled and nodded his head, “Next Tuesday. Figured maybe you could pick me up from the airport, hell even drop me off tomorrow night if you want.”

Louis’ eyes grew wide. Anger bubbled in his stomach and he knew his next words would make or break this moment he was having with Harry and cut back as many words as he could before spitting them out.

“I can’t believe this..” it was quiet in the space between them for a few seconds before he continued, “you’re asking ME, of all people, to take you to the airport so you can fly home and see your boyfriend to fix your broken relationship?” Louis’ hand flew to his mouth in hopes that Harry didn’t pick up on anything that he just said. 

“First of all, rude. Second of all, what does that mean? Of course I’m asking you, you’re my best friend, Louis,” Louis’ expression went from angry, to surprised to a fake kind of happy quickly. 

“Sorry! You’re right! Of course I’ll take you and pick you up! Just send me the details and I’ll be there. After pool tomorrow night you can stay at mine again and we’ll leave from there. Mom and dad loved you so they wouldn’t mind,” Louis smiled from ear to ear with a cheesy fake grin that Harry could see right through. Harry didn’t understand what happened in the car between them from the hug to now but it was different. The air felt heavy and Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“Yeah, okay Lou. Sounds good. I don’t need a suitcase or anything so it’ll just be me. Thanks,” they looked at each other for some time before Louis decided it was time for him to leave. Awkwardly Harry got out of the car and walked up the driveway toward his front door with his mind racing a mile a minute. Louis’ was doing the same as he backed away. Harry couldn’t figure out why Louis acted the way he did, or why the dynamic of their friendship changed over a day’s time. It was nearly 3 in the morning and Harry didn’t see himself sleeping anytime soon, but he strolled up the stairs into his bed while thoughts of Nebraska and Michael and Maui and Loui filled his head.

\-----

Thursday morning Louis had the opening shift at the bar alongside Niall. Zayn, Liam and Brandon made it a point to come in and have lunch in Niall’s section to keep an eye on Louis. He had been working crazy hours and picking up any shift he could to keep his mind off of Harry being gone. Niall told everyone what was happening even though Zayn already knew but everytime they tried to bring it up to Louis he always ignored it the best way he could and talked about just how much he hopes Michael sees the value in Harry and takes his head out of his ass because all he wants is for Harry to be happy. 

The girls at the host stand suffered while Harry was gone since Louis was in such a terrible mood. He made them do extra side work and if they were so much as five minutes late for their shift he threatened to write them up. He never actually would but he always seemed to be full of empty threats. He hadn’t heard from Harry since he landed in Nebraska and he was sure it is because he doesn’t want Michael to see him talking to Louis - but it all changed when Louis got a phone call in the middle of his shift. It was Harry.

Louis took the stairs to the dining room two at a time and basically sprinted to the bouncers table to tell them Harry was calling. He was lucky there weren’t many people in the restaurant watching him spiral out of control. He left the table and ran to the server’s station by the kitchen to find Niall and show him that Harry was calling yelling “what do i do?!” but by the time Niall took his phone to accept the call Louis had missed it. Louis began to laugh at the idea of him missing the call and all Liam said under his breath was “good,” and when Zayn asked what he meant by good, all Liam could respond with was, “he’s going to break that poor kid’s heart” and all of the bouncers at the table nodded in agreement. Louis walked back over to their table calmly and sat down next to Brandon, “should I call him back or let him call me again? Should I tell him i’m at work?” Louis rambled on until Brandon responded quickly, “let him call you back, he will i’m sure.” Louis nodded and stood up and went back to the host stand to greet guests coming in for lunch. It was about 1 in the afternoon and pretty quiet in the restaurant. As soon as the night manager came in, Louis would be allowed to go. The bouncers worked tonight so he would have to be back for 9, but it would be nice to go home for a while to change and shower. 

For the rest of the day and all night at the door with Brandon, Louis waited by the phone hoping Harry would call him again. He didn’t. 

“We’re worried about you, Louis. You’re totally geeked over an engaged dude,” before Louis could interrupt, Brandon continued, “we all love H, he’s awesome so we get it. But you’re just going to get hurt, he loves him Lou,” Louis nodded his head and let it hang against his chest. The rest of the night went on quietly by the door and Zayn cut Louis early since it wasn’t too busy in the restaurant. When he walked him out to his car, he stopped him before he opened his door. 

“You need anything you call me, okay?” Zayn placed his finger under Louis’ chin to get him to look him in the eyes. Louis nodded and went to grab the door again when Zayn held it shut tightly. “He really cares about you, Louis. You mean a lot to him, let him figure it out.” He nodded his head and Zayn opened the car door for him, “text when you’re home,” Louis shut the door and continued home. The next day came and went as Louis spent it at the bar surrounded by people who knew his secret and didn’t let it go. There was so much undying support from his coworkers that he couldn’t help but feel a bit better. 

“Danny said you’ve been ignoring him, why?” Niall wrapped his arm around Louis after hours while they were cleaning up. “Go out with him tonight, he fancies you, live a little Lou,” Louis shrugged Niall off and continued cleaning up. He pulled his phone out to see the text from Danny and none from Harry and decided to reply. 

“Yeah mate, i’ll come by. Send me your address, sounds like fun x,” 

Louis made his way to Danny’s through a fenced in driveway as Danny was waiting for him by the door. 

“Figured we could sit in the bed of my truck, stargaze a bit?” Louis laughed out loud and realized he wasn’t joking. 

“Shit, sorry. Sure, I smell like a restaurant though,” Louis said, not caring if he was smooth or not because he felt numb to everything around him anyway. 

Danny jumped into the bed of his red Chevy Cheyenne and extended his arm to Louis to help him up. There were already blankets and pillows and beers in the back as if Danny had been waiting for him all night. They talked for a bit about the bar and Niall and shared laughs between the two of them all night long. Louis wouldn’t be gay if he didn’t think Danny was even mildly attractive. He was 6’1, had a muscular frame, dark hair and wore sleek gold framed glasses. He was 25 and a grad student at Louis’ college. It was nice to have something to talk about. 

When the conversation lulled, Louis laid his head back on one of the pillows Danny placed out for them and sighed heavily. Even though he was having a good time, he couldn’t help but think of Harry. Louis felt warmth on his thigh and realized that it was Danny’s hand. 

“Relax Lou, I know it’s been a long night,” he said into his ear as he scooted closer to Louis. Louis relaxed under his warm touches and wanted to want this. He had been with only one other guy and it had been a while. He reached for Danny’s face and placed his right palm on his left cheek and moved his face in closer. He could feel Danny’s breath against his lips and closed the space between them. Their lips entwined together as Louis’ hand slipped lower onto his chest. A moan escaped Danny’s throat as he licked Louis’ bottom lip begging for entrance but Louis pulled back with thoughts of what Zayn had said to him the other night and Harry’s beautiful face floating in his head. 

Danny’s eyes flicked from Louis’ eyes to his lips and back to his eyes again as they both panted heavily. “Did I do something wrong?” It broke Louis’ heart to hear him say that, but he couldn’t continue with something like this, not yet anyway. Not until he knew for sure that Harry was continuing to be with Michael and didn’t have any feelings at all for Louis.

“No, you didn’t. I’m just tired, that’s all.” Louis closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. 

“Why don’t you stay here, if you want? We can sleep right here, it’ll be fun. The gates are locked so we’d be safe,” Danny said pointing to the fence around the driveway. Louis nodded his head and rolled over to his phone to text his mom to numb to care about where he’d be sleeping tonight. 

“Staying at Nialls tonight, i love you x”

Then texted Niall,

“Staying at your house tonight if mom asks,”  
“Get it, brodie”

Louis rolled his eyes and laid on his side facing the wall of the truck bed. He felt Danny’s warm body scoot in behind him and he relaxed. Even though he knew in his heart of hearts that Danny wasn’t the one for him, it was nice to feel loved when all he’s felt was neglect these last few days. Danny’s arms relaxed around Louis and Louis closed his eyes gently. He felt a kiss on the back of his head and heard a soft “goodnight, Lou,” before drifting off to sleep in the back of this old clunky Chevy.

Louis woke up abruptly at 8am Saturday morning to his phone buzzing against the metal of the truck. He rolled over to see that it was Harry calling and jumped up to answer it as fast as he could. He was sure to be quiet not to wake Danny up and answered the phone with an excited whisper, “Harry! Y’alright?” Harry’s heavy breath was heard through the phone and a sharp inhale burnt Louis’ ear even miles away. 

“Is it bad that i’m out here in the home that I share with my fiancé about to break everything off with him and all I can fucking think about is you?”


End file.
